Books A Valuable Reference Work
Tandem Mass Spectrometry. F. W. McLafferty, Ed. xvii + 506 pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1983. $46.20
TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY
Reviewed by Klaus Biemann, Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. 02139 The information contained in the decomposition of an ion produced in the mass spectrometer, generally into a daughter ion and a neutral particle has, for decades, occasionally been used in conventional electron ionization mass spectrometry. With the advent of "soft" ionization techniques that mainly produce ionized molecules even of large and complex compounds, but little fragmentation, their forced decomposition by activation through collision with a neutral gas (CAD) has gained importance. In a true tandem mass spectrometer system an ion produced in the first spectrometer (MSI) is fragmented and the daughter ions analyzed in the second (MS2). In 26 chapters written by those active in the field the book covers the entire spectrum of approaches, from those that utilize a single conventional double-focusing mass spectrometer in the "linked scan" mode to true MS/MS systems, such as three- and four-sector instruments (chapters 12 and 13) and multiple quadrupoles (chapters 8 and 19). The first two-thirds of the book is devoted to history, principles, techniques, and data processing. The first chapter, by Jennings and Mason, is particularly comprehensive and lucid in the discussion of the various linked scan techniques for double-focusing magnetic deflection instruments. This discussion is also directly relevant to true multisector MS/MS systems designed to provide better resolution. Data acquisition and processing are discussed at great length in chapter 17 for the Finnigan triple-quadrupole system, but a similar treatment of the very different problem encountered in magnetic deflection MS/MS is, unfortunately, absent. Chapter 4 deals in an almost encyclopedic manner with the use of metas-
The Practice of Ion Chromatography. Frank Smith, Richard Chang, xiii + 218 pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1983. $52.95
Reviewed by Robert Stevens, Inorganic Pollutant Analysis Branch, Environmental Sciences Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27711 Edited by FW. McLafferty table ion mass spectrometry and of MS/MS for the elucidation of mass spectrometric fragmentation mechanisms. The entire last third of the book is devoted to applications in a wide range of fields. Since MS/MS has only recently become more widely available this material is sparse and uneven in content. However, the nine chapters illustrate the scope and present limitations of these techniques and point to the future, when well-designed and easy-to-operate MS/MS systems will be commercially available to the practicing organic or biochemical mass spectrometrist. This future is rapidly approaching and "Tandem Mass Spectrometry," particularly those sections that deal with the principles of MS/MS and CAD, will be a valuable reference work for those using these instruments as well as for their colleagues who utilize the resulting data and must fully understand their meaning and origin. Fred McLafferty is to be congratulated for assembling this large number of contributors. In contrast to other editors of multiauthor books, he substantially rewrote the text to achieve uniformity, eliminate duplication, and provide frequent cross references to other chapters. It would be easier to find these had the running titles included the chapter numbers. The index suffers from an overabundance of compound names and a relative incompleteness of references to topics. However, these minor technical shortcomings should be more of a warning to future editors than a criticism of this one.
974 A • ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 56, NO. 8, JULY 1984
"The Practice of Ion Chromatography" tends to support the old axiom that "good things come in small packages." This relatively short book (218 pages) is chock-full of useful ion exchange chromatography data, most of which are relatively current. The format the authors used, showing the chromatogram and chromatographic conditions for each type of analytical problem or unique chromatographic condition they describe, makes the book a useful desk reference for scientists involved in anion-cation separation chemistry. The book contains 331 references, but only 64 are in the peerreviewed literature. Most of the references are either private communications from Dionex or appear in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports. Nevertheless, these non-peerreviewed documents do provide the reader with the latest information on ion exchange separation procedures, which otherwise would remain unknown to the average chromatographer. The book contains an excellent discussion on the evolution of this specialized form of ion exchange chromatography (IC) and features the suppressor columns that set this type of liquid chromatographic system apart from the other chromatographic methods. Discussions of a wide range of separation methods for anions and cations are contained in the text. For example, ion exchange conditions for the separation and measurement of trace levels for Na + , K+, Mg++, Ca + + , water-soluble amines, and organic acids are discussed in the book. The authors show examples of ways IC can be applied to the analysis of anions and cations in foods, beverages,
Books and food additives; its application to biomedical research; and a wide range of industrial problems, such as air and water pollution. The authors believe that IC has not reached its full potential, since new detection systems and improved ion exchange column technology will expand the utility of the method substantially beyond what is possible with existing hardware. This reviewer agrees with this assessment but hopes the cost of the commercial hardware for this important analytical tool will not become prohibitive. Principles and Practice of Analytical Chemistry, 2nd éd. F. W. Fifield, D. Kealy. xii + 462 pp. International Textbook Co., Ltd., Furnival House, 14-18 High Holborn, London WC1V 6 BX, U.K. 1983.
Reviewed by Timothy Nieman, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, III. 61801 This softcover volume is an updated version of a 1975 edition. The order of coverage is introduction, data assessment, equilibria, separations, titrimetry, gravimetry, electrochemistry, spectrometry, and other techniques. On the surface it appears that this text might follow the pattern for a
A new catalog of chromatographic
typical course in quantitative analysis, yet closer examination leaves one unsure of exactly how the book would fit into a "typical" curriculum. The earlier sections of the book are written as though aimed for a sophomore level quant course, but the later chapters, particularly those on various types of spectrometry, would be difficult for students who do not have a firm grasp of physical chemistry. The extent of coverage is variable. The section on atomic spectrometry is very good and includes arc-spark, plasma, and flame emission; absorbance in flames and furnaces; X-ray emission; and a brief mention of atomic fluorescence. The molecular spectrometry chapter covers UV-VIS, IR, NMR, and MS well. From the extent of coverage on these molecular spectrometric methods (25 pages on NMR) I find it unusual that Raman and molecular luminescence are not covered at all. Similarly, kinetics and rate methods are dismissed in one short paragraph. All considerations of equilibrium are covered in only 18 pages. The book has a few definite strengths. The discussion of each technique begins with a brief outline summary of the principles, instrumen-
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tation, applications, and disadvantages. There is good discussion of applications for each technique and the end of the book has some very nice case studies of real analytical problems, with a discussion of planning overall analysis schemes. The index is well-written and complete. On the negative side, I find it awkward that the authors express molar concentrations as moles per cubic decimeter (mol d m - 3 ) rather than as moles per liter; liter, milliliter, and microliter are never used. Also the use of [X] to represent the activity of X and Οχ to represent the molar concentra tion of X can easily confuse casual readers who are used to seeing [X] for molar concentration and Cx for total concentration of X (in all forms present). The authors include few figures and essentially no worked examples. Most students would be baffled to find in the same chapter that a "set of repli cate results should number at least twenty-five if it is to be a truly repre sentative statistical sample," and that "five analyses at most are required to get a reasonable estimate of the true mean." It is similarly disconcerting to see a figure of a potentiometric titra tion that indicates that the initial pH for a solution of a weak acid is decid edly alkaline (about pH 9).
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976 A • ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 56, NO. 8, JULY 1984
Books Received A Dictionary of Spectroscopy. 2nd ed. R. Ο Denny, xiii + 205 pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1982. $39.95 Microcolumn High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. Paul Kucera, Ed. xvi + 302 pp. Elsevier Science Publishers, 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017. 1984. $63.50 Air Monitoring Methods for Industrial Contaminants. David Halliday, Ed. xi + 428 pp. Biomedical Publications, P.O. Box 495, Davis, Calif. 95616. 1983. $35 The Interpretation of Vapor-Phase In frared Spectra. Vol. 1: Group Frequen cy Data. Vol. 2: Corresponding Spectra. R. A. Nyquist. 1300 pp. and 500 pp., re spectively. Sadtler Research Laborato ries, 3316 Spring Garden St., Philadel phia. Pa. 19104. 1984. $120 and $350, respectively, or $425/set Field, Thermionic, and Secondary Electron Emission Spectroscopy. A. Modinos, xi + 375 pp. Plenum Press, 233 Spring St., New York, N.Y. 10013. 1984. $55
