Lanthanide Chemistry; Developments in Chemical Thormodynamies of the Lanthanides; Preparation and Ident,ification of Divalent Lmthxnide Ions as Dilute peeinlly bemuse many of tho structwal Sobttes in Alkaline Emth Halide Solid farmulns cited for other prohlems are Solutions; Flrrorito-Related Oxide P h a e s vnried enough to he osed a? ~mnenclatnre of the Itsre Earth and Actinide Elements; exercises. A large group of conventional and Aqueous Oxidation-Reduction R e synthesis and "give the prodnct of the actions of U, Np, Pu, and Am). The refollowing" is offered. Stereochemistry is maining 20 articles report original experiespecially emphasized. NMR and ir are essentially concentrated in one chapt,er in a mental or theoretical resuks. They range in length from 3 I / ? pages and 12 references well-gradusled approach. Comparisons of reactivity, of acidity, of st,ahility, and (Octahedral Hexahnlide Complexes of the q,~estionsinvolving mechanisms are very Trivalent Actinides) t,o 26 pages and 203 Inlmel.ous. "Compound A" ot. rondmap references (Recent Advances in Act,inide pmhleme arc f d y represented, includand Lanthrtnide Chemistry). Although the rare earths have bcen known for xling x number which use nmr and ir. The hook is not a ~ e i s s o ~ a n d - p a sjoh most two centuries, the emphasis hero is on te recent work, particularly that carried out fl.orn the Roberts and Caserio texts; a during the sixties. Nore than 900 referc~irsnrysnrvey shows that relatively few of ences are cited. the prohlems are direcily from their texts. This set is n well-organized select,ion of I n line with the general approach of the classical and modern problems which symposi~lm,most of the articles deal with wonld be especidly usefr~l for organic several or with the ent,ire group of Isnchemistry students who are not using thanides and/or actinides, buL in a. few Roberts andcnserioor Morrison and Boyd. eases, one element is singled out for special, Instructors would find it helpR11as a sopdetailed treatment (Tetravalent Praseoplementxry hook-considering the readymium Compounds; Europium Chelates sonable price of $2.9.5-far assignment of as Laser Materials; Uranium-Transition creative homewol.k problems. Metal Double Oxides; Bk(II1)-Bk(1T;) Couple; MoFrUFa System; and UO.FR.\NKL. L ~ M I I E R T (Bod. and NaUOzBO*). Extensive use Occidental College has been made of instrumental methods; Los Angeleu, California magnetic data; absorption, electronic, and EPR spectra; stability constants; and redox potentials are well represented. New results not yet present in general chemistry texts are common. For exAdvances in Chemistry Series. Volume ample, prior to 1960, only three lantha71, Lonthonide Actinide Chemistry nides (Sm, ELI,and Yh) were known to exist in the divalent state; evidence of B (A symposium held a t the 152nd Meetdispositive oxidation state for all tho lming of the American Chemical Society, thanides is given here. Ileavy emphasis New York., September 13-14, 1966. has been placed on solid state and nonPaul R. Fields and Therald Moellar, aqueous chemistry; the interesting new Symposium Chairmen). Edited by claas of halides with metallic character, Roberl F. Gould. American Chemical Laa+(I-lee-, and the use of europium Society, Washington, D.C., 1967. x chelates as lasers may be cited as cases in 359 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X point. Research in the latter area, in23.5 cm. 811. cidentally, ha4 unequivocally demonstrated t,hat tripositive lanthanides prefer The beginning chemistry student's the unusual coordination number of eight knowledge of the lare earths is usually with bidentate ligands such as @-diketones limited. Although the lanthanides and and orthophenanthroline, a fact worthy of actinides constitute two of the largest note in general chemistry counes. natmxl groups of metals (more than Lanthanides and actinides are not one-fourth of the known elements) and usllally considered to be strong complex although they have heen the object of informers, yet a large number of different tense research activity since World War coordination eomponnds are discussed in 11, they are still largely neglected in the this volume, e.g., those with fluoride and general chemistry course. acetate ions, octamethylpyrophosphoraThe volume under consideration here, though of limited value for actual classmide, Bdiketones, and N-subst,itnted iminodiacetic acids as ligands. One of room instruction, is of educational inthe most exciting new developments in eoterest in that i t not only reflects the state ordination chemistry has been the use of and trends of current research in the fiold gas chromatography in t,he study of volahut i t also stresses similarities, diNerences, tile, thermally stable metal complexes. and relationships between the 4f and 5f Perhaps the mast striking of such applicaelements, which, according to Leroy Eytions has been Robert E . Sieved separaring, "provide one of the most valuable tion of the lanthanides by this techniqne. testing grounds in all of chemistry for any Sievem' paper on Yolatile Rare Eart,h t,heory which may be advanced." The Chelates of 6-Diketanes, included in the boak consists of 28 papers (13 on lanvolome, summarizes much nsefd dabs. thanides and 12 on actinides) by 50 conSince 1049, the ACS Advances in Chemtributors, selected for the most part from istry Series has done yeoman service as an those presented a t a symposium cmponoutlet for symposia and collect,ions of sored by the Divisions of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry st the 1B2nd ACS dat,n in special arms of topical inlcrest. Alr. I?. F. G o d d and his staff are to hc eonNational Meeting (1966). gralulaled for providing n p~hliration Five of the articles are of the review medium for symposi\lm papers that w~ldcl type (Recent Advances in Actinido and
book reviews
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A560
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Journal of Chemical Education
olherwise he fragmented and rlistrih~rted among several journals or nut prthlished a t all. I n p?rticdnr, they deserve thanks for relieving symposium chairmen of the onerous burden of refereeing, editing, and indexing n. uo.zl, number of papen. Yet s. minor complaint seems in order here. I n all the adverlisements for this excellent series, the names of the symposinm chai~.men are ncver mentioned. Let us hope that a revision in ACS advertising policy will occur in time for Paul R. Fields and Therald hIoeller to receive recognition for making possible this vahmble contribution to theliterntwe.
Cal$ornia Slate College Frcsno 93726
The Chemistry of Molten Soltr
Hawy Bloom, University of Tasmania. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., 1067, New York. xiv 184 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X
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23.5 em.
%lo.
Although two general books of nn ndvaneed nature, and numerous, more specialized, ~eviews and small volumes an molt,en salt chemistry have appeared in recent years, there has been in this reviewer's opinion n very noliceable need for a compact bnt compl.ehensive book on t,he subject which could be read in a few evenings' time. Bloom's book is designed to fill this need and should be welcomed by scientists and students requiring a brief introduction to molten salt chemistry, ss well as by teachers who may wish to include this suhject in a special topics course. The book is designed ss a. text and includes a large number of well drawn figures and diagrams, n~tmeronstables of ilh~strnt,ive data, and a set of problems a t the end. While the problems are not parlic~dxrlyimaginative or challenging, they do give t,he reader an opportunity to perform some manipulations of his own on real experimental data and to acquire same feeling for t,ho numbers encountered in molten salt chemistry. This is an important pedagogical aim, and the author and publisher are to he commended for including the problem set. The author claims to have written for seicnt,ists with a chemistry background eqnivalent to that ohtained in an ordinary ~mdergraduatephysical chemistry course, and for the most part he does in fact keep his discnssians at this level. Occasionnlly, theories or equations with which the nenior chemistry major might not be expected to be familiar are introduced in somewhat summary fashion, e.g., the relationship between free vob~meand ultrasonic velocity or the absolute renetion rate espression for viscosity. These depa~.turesfrom tho stated level of the boak are, however, generally well referenced and arc furthermore bo some exteut rlnnvoidnble in s hook of this compactness which deals wilh n subj e d of this scope. Bloom has been qnite thomngh in his coverage and devotes some spnre tn all of
