Capillary Electrophoresis of Carbohydrates. Methods in Molecular Biology, Volume 213. Edited by Pierre Thibault (Caprion Pharmaceuticals, Montre´ al, Canada) and Susumu Honda (Kinki University, Higashi-osaka, Japan). Humana Press: Totowa, NJ. 2003. xiv + 318 pp. $99.50. ISBN 0-89603-826-2. This guidebook covers the latest techniques in using capillary electrophoresis to analyze complex carbohydrates. Many formats for effecting separations are described, including capillary zone electrophoresis, capillary isoelectric focusing, capillary isotachophoresis, capillary gel electrophoresis, and micellar electrokinetic chromatography. As with other volumes in this series, the topics at hand are approached in a step-by-step fashion for each chapter: an introduction begins the chapter, followed by sections on materials, methods, and helpful comments and notes. Each chapter also ends with an extensive list of references. The 16 chapters of this book are organized under the following headings: Introduction; Sample Preparation Methods; Analysis of Mono- and Oligosaccharides; Analysis of Glycoconjugates and the Component Monosaccharides; and Specific Applications. An appendix entitled “Structures of Carbohydrates Found in Animals and Bacteria” and a subject index complete the book. JA033515+ 10.1021/ja033515+
One wonders at the choice of emphasis in several places. Is a review of atomic spectroscopy really the right place to review much of Giddings’ work on the development of field-flow fractionation? Following the statement (p 290) that a review of fundamental studies of LIBS is beyond the scope of the chapter, a majority of the rest of the chapter describes fundamental studies and their consequences. References to LIBS are encyclopedic, yet one critical reference (Carr, J. W.; Horlick, G. Vaporization of Solid Metal Samples into an InductivelyCoupled Plasma. Spectrochim. Acta 1982, 37, 1-15), noting the parallels to spark sampling, is missing. Consequently, there is little critical discussion of the parallels between the comparatively novel LIBS technique and the much older spark methods. Much of the book suffers from an abundance of detailed reporting and little critical analysis. This was the most abysmally produced book I have seen in some time. One signature was printed only on one side, so 16 pages were blank (if I were Tao or Nakahara, authors of the thorough chapter on hydride generation, I would be infuriated). Spelling and spacing errors evinced poor proofreading, and only one chapter had the titles of the articles included in the references. Alexander Scheeline, UniVersity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign JA033509D
Advances in Atomic Spectroscopy, Volume 7. Edited by Joseph Sneddon (McNeese State University). Elsevier Scientific B. V.: Amsterdam and New York. 2002. xxxii + 406 pp. $250.00. ISBN 0-444-51033-8. This book continues a series that has featured intensive reviews and tutorial chapters on many aspects of elemental analysis. The first volume, in 1992, was authored by scientists with addresses exclusively from the U.S. In the current volume, only three of seven chapters have even one U.S. author, an indication of the geographic shift in support of and interest in research in elemental analysis. Cited literature is as recent as 2002, but it focuses mainly on work between 1996 and 2000. Judging both by the extensive chapter on double-focusing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and by the references to this subject in other chapters, it is evident that such measurements are at the fore-front of elemental analysis. Detection limits, speciation capability, isotopic ratio and dilution capability, and linear dynamic range are all superior to other methods of elemental analysis. In contrast, the chapter on graphite furnace atomic absorption for biological and clinical samples is mundane, reporting only incremental progress in this well-developed field. Between these extremes, one finds coverage of slurry sampling, laser-induced breakdown (LIBS), hydride generation, field-flow fractionation elemental analysis, and an overview of clinical uses of inductively coupled plasma emission and mass spectrometry. Unsigned book reviews are by the Book Review Editor. 10.1021/ja033515+ CCC: $25.00 © 2003 American Chemical Society
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Structural Chemistry of Glasses. By K. J. Rao (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore). Elsevier: Amsterdam. 2002. xvi + 568 pp. $120.00. ISBN 0-08-043958-6. Professor Rao has delivered a well-written treatise on the physical chemical aspects of inorganic glasses that should find its place on the shelves of researchers and students of these interesting materials. This book provides an excellent review of the physical properties of inorganic glasses, primarily oxides and chalcogenides, with particularly detailed chapters devoted to electrical properties (dc, ac, and semiconductivity) and useful reviews of glass transition and relaxation phenomena. The book is written in a clear style at a level appropriate for an upperlevel undergraduate or beginning graduate student. The introductory chapter provides a charming historical perspective of glass and reveals Rao’s passion for his subject. He has a good eye for selecting appropriate studies from the literature and from his own lab to describe useful physical characteristics of glasses and how they may be related to the details of their chemical structure. The references are exhaustive and up-to-date, and those working in the field will be pleasantly surprised by the useful nuggets that repeatedly turn up as one reads through the chapters. The book fills a useful niche between more rigorous texts, like Elliott’s Physics of Amorphous Materials, and more introductory-level books, like Shelby’s Introduction to Glass J. AM. CHEM. SOC. 2003, 125, 7479
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Science and Technology, and will be a fine complement to other surveys of the field, like Varshneya’s Fundamentals of Glass Science. On the downside, some of the figures taken from primary sources are poorly reproduced, with labels that are sometimes difficult to read and lines and artwork that are sometimes difficult to discern. In addition, the layout of the book is a little unusual. Chapters 4 and 5 are reviews of the spectroscopic and modeling techniques that provide the detailed structural information used by glass scientists to understand physical characteristics. However, the specific structural studies of various glass systems are not presented in detail until Chapters 12-14. Between are reviews of various physical properties that could be better understood in many cases using the results from the spectroscopic studies described in subsequent chapters. It seems a bit unusual that a book entitled Structural Chemistry of Glasses would relegate the discussion of “structural chemistry” to the end. Finally, there is little mention of the properties and structures of technical glasses, those more complex silicate compositions that dominate everyday applications. This latter point is not a particular shortcomingsother sources can be consulted for such practical information. Rao’s book is meant to be used and enjoyed by the researcher and student interested in the composition-structure-property relationships that form the basis for much of modern glass science.
and Photochemistry; and Technology Review. Author and subject indexes complete the book. JA0335162 10.1021/ja0335162
Biophysical Chemistry: Membranes and Proteins. Edited by Richard H. Templer and Robin Leatherbarrow (Imperial College of Science and Technology, London). Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge. 2002. x + 280 pp. $179.00. ISBN 0-85404-851-0. This book presents some of the papers given at the “Biophysical Chemistry 2001” conference held in London in September 2001. The four major areas covered in the conference, and consequently in this book, were (1) modeling of biological systems, (2) membrane structures and interactions, (3) methods for probing biomolecules, and (4) channels and receptors. There are 25 chapters organized into the following two sections: Probing Biological Molecules: Theory and Experiment, and Proteins, Lipids and Their Interactions. A subject index completes the book. JA033517U 10.1021/ja033517u
Richard K. Brow, UniVersity of Missouri-Rolla JA025315O 10.1021/ja025315o
Ionic Liquids: Industrial Applications to Green Chemistry. Edited by Robin D. Rogers (The University of Alabama) and Kenneth R. Seddon (The Queen’s University of Belfast). American Chemical Society (Distributed by Oxford University Press): Washington, DC. 2002. xiv + 474 pp. $150.00. ISBN 0-8412-3789-1. The book contains a selection of papers presented at the symposium “Green (or Greener) Industrial Applications of Ionic Liquids” held during the ACS National Meeting in San Diego in April 2001. Its 34 chapters are organized into the following sections: Ionic Liquids in Context; Separations and Engineering; Green Synthesis; Nuclear Chemistry and Electrochemistry; Ion Liquid Systems; Properties of Ionic Liquids; Catalysis; Structure
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Seminars in Organic Synthesis: XXVII Summer School “A. Corbella”. June 17-21, 2002, Palazzo Feltrinelli (Universita` degli Studi Milano, Gargnano (BS)). Societa` Chimica Italiana. 2002. 350 pp. $79.95. ISBN 88-86208-20-0. This book presents the lectures given at the 27th Summer School “A. Corbella” seminars in organic synthesis in Gargnano, Italy in June 2002. Its 15 chapters are organized under the following headings: Advanced Physical Methods in Organic Chemistry; Reactivity of Functionalized Carbon-Carbon Double Bonds; Heterocycles in Medicinal Chemistry; Stereoselective Catalysis; and Creativity in Research: Critical Surveys Covering the Year 2001. A CD of the lectures is also included. JA033518M 10.1021/ja033518m
