book reviews and review articles. Some chapters conelude with a n additional brief list of suggested further readings. The volume could conceivably serve as a text far a n advanced undergraduate course in molecular structure and bonding but Ferrmsson's work would he verv useful as a romprehensiw wpplemcntary source of stern,rhernical information for lnnrganlc courqes ar the undergraduate and eradunre level. Donna L. Berglund The College ot Wooster Wooster. Ohio 44691
Structures, Mechanisms and Spectroscopy: 120 Problems, 60 Solutions
J. C. Moire and B. Waegell, Faculte des Sciences, Marseille. Gordon and Breach, 440 Park Avenue, South, New York, 10016, 1971. Figs. and Tables. xii 300 pp. 16 x 23.5 cm. $15.50 Hardcover: $9.50 Paperbound.
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Chemical education, like chemical research, has always had a strong component of puzzle solving. For undergraduates the development of puzzle-solving abilities was formerly concentrated around organic structure "road map" problems and the classical inorganic qualitative analysis scheme; now this development is likely to center around reaction mechanisms and the interpretation of spectroscopic data. Thus Maire and Waegall's presentation of puzzles wkich combine these two areas is of great pedagogical interest. The structure of the book is provided by the nature of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The problems start with the interpretation of chemical shift and coupling constant data (with and without regard to stereoehemistry), proceed through time dependent phenomena and variable temperature, and lead to the full eamplexity of nuclei other than H1 and even spin deeoupling experiments. The organization is a clue to the emphasis. Although vihrational and electronic spectra are used to supplement nmr data, they are clearly subordinate; mass spectroscopy does not appear. The solutions are primarily nmr interpretation. Indeed, the generality implied by the title is misleading. Reaction mechanism questions are posed, hut they are often not answered directly: the reader is referred to the original paper. When mechanistic information is used, it is often t o simplify the nmr interpretation rather than to provide a more general insight into reaction mechanisms. To be judged accurately on its merits, then, it must he judged as a puzzle book on the uses of nmr spectroscopy in organic and organometallic chemistry. Judged in these terms it has considerable merit as a source of instructional problems and test questions, a problem text for very advanced undergraduates and for graduate students, and as a personal resource for sharpening one's ability to apply nmr data. The hook is clearly written and atA504
/ Journal of Chemical Education
tractively printed (although the failure t o print the nmr spectra on a grid necessitates the use of a ruler to determine proton ratios from the integral), and the selection of problems and solutions seems t o be representative. Even for problems lacking solutions, the reference to the original paper is given. The problems are almost all taken from wide circulation research journals (J. Amer. Chem. Soc, Chem. Comm., etc.) and date from 196667 (although the hook was not published until 1911). Because of the period from which the problems date, the use of lanthanide shift reagents is not treated. Students just learning nmr interpretation should he steered to a hook such as Bible's "Guide t o the NMR Experimental Method." Any student using this book will probably want to keep a t hand a text such as Paudler's "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance," since Maire and Waegall assume that their readers are already familiar with a wide range of nmr phenomena; a n appendix listing chemical shifts, coupling constants, and infrared group frequencies would make the book mare usable. The hardcover book costs $0.12 a problem, or $0.25 per solution, making i t expensive for student purchase; the price for the paperbound edition is more realistic. All these considerations are necessary, of course, to let you know whether the hook suits your needs. One final consideration, though, should be added. The first evening I sat dawn to work a few prablems, I stayed up later than I had planned on a night when I should have been working m a lecture. Bon appetit. Jack E. Leonard Stale University ot New York College a1 Purchase
Acld-Base Balance; Chemistry, Physiology, Pathophysiology
A. Gorman Hills, M.D., Medical College of Ohio a t Toledo. The Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1973. xxvii + 381 pp. Figs. and tables. 23 x 15 cm. $19.50. Judging from the title of this hook, one might expect it t o he a somewhat camprehensive (perhaps even introductory) survey of acid-base physiology. Do not he deceived. A more appropriate title might be "Renal regulation of acid-base balance: an advanced text." The book ramblks through three distinct phases: Chemistry, Physiology, and Pathophvsiolow. It is not a t all clear what -the ;hemistry section serves. If the reader is expected to follow the rather complicated mechanisms involved in the renal excretion of bicarbonate, it hardly seems necessary to spend 80 pages reviewing the history of the development of electrolytic dissociation. The physiology section consists of an adequate description of factors influencing urinary pH. The pathophysiology section, describing disorders in acid base balance, is the most interesting (and shortest) part of the book. Unfortunately, the author's prose is very difficult to read. A typical example fallows
(p. 16): "At the present time, it is the license we enjoy to treat acid-base equilihria in extracellular fluid theoretically, and the minor character of the complication that plasma and interstitial fluid are distinct phases, which still provide the principal basis for tentative inferences about changes affecting the aeid-base eomposition of cell water in disease." Indeed! Lastly, in the course of reading this book for the first time, the binding cracked. A $19.50 paperback should a t least have a substantial binding. This reviewer finds very little in this haok to recommend. Daniel C. Noonan Hartford Hospital Hartford, Connecticut
Applications of Laser Raman Spectroscopy
Stanley K. Freeman, International Flavors & Fragrances, New Jersey. John
Wiley & Son, New York, 1974. xi f 336 pp. Figs. and Tables. 15 X 23.5 cm. $17.50. A mare correct title for this book would he "Applications of Laser Raman Spectroscopy t o Organic Systems" since the important applications to inorganic chemistry are not cited. This book is one of several recent monographs in Raman spectroscopy and must therefore be compared with current publications. The strong point of this hook is the author's organic chemistry approach to the use of Raman spectroscopy for identification and functional group analysis. To my knowledge, this is the best available treatment. The hook has a n excellent chapter on sample handling which is recommended to anyone entering this field. None of the usual discussion of prediction of selection rules differences between Raman and infrared is found in the book but this material is readily available other places. The material covered in the book is surprisingly current, indicating rapid publication of the manuscript. This aspect alone recommends the book t o those entertaining ideas of entering this field. Freeman clearly enuciates those functional groups most definitively characterized by Raman as opposed to infrared spectroscopy such as the unsaturated and ring systems. He cites not only the frequency and relative intensity relationships but the depolarization values as well. The use of depalarization ratios for the purpose of band assignment is widespread but using depalarization ratios to differentiate between similar carhonyls, for example, has only been practiced extensively by the author. It appears to be a novel and useful approach if the precision of the measurement is adequate. I recommend the hook to the organic chemist interested in the ootential of R ~ m s n5pQclrOXupv and to tht practicing Kamnn qwrrnwoplsts seek~np,n summary of a v d a h l e frequency structure rorrrlations in organic chemistry. Jack L. Koenig Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio 44106
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