AUGUST. 1953
ADVANCES IN VOLUME VII
CARBOHYDRATE
CHEhfISTRY
Edited by Claude S. Hudson, National Institutes of Health, Melville L. Wolfrom, Ohio State University, and Sidney M.Cantor, American Sugar Refining Company. Associate Editors for the British Isles, Stanley Peat, University College of North Wales, and Maurice Stacey, The University of Birmingham. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1952. ix 370 pp. 15.5 X 23.5 cm.
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THE remarkable new tools and teohniques a t the disposal of today,'= carbohydrate chemists create not only a rapidly expandine wealth of information concernine the carbohvdrates but also a need for easily accessible properties of reference compounds. This seventh volume of the "Advances in Carbohydrate Chemistry" series provides reviews of some of these new developments and also tables of reference compounds which will make easier the discovery of more information. The following list of titles and authors will indicate the material covered and the international nature of the effort that is giving us this series. "The methyl ethers of the aldopentoses and of rhamnose and fucose." R. A. Laidlaw and (the late) E. G. V. Pereivsl, he ~niversiiyof Edinburgh, Sodand. " 1 , ~ - ~ n h y drohexofuranoses, a new class of hexosans," R. J. Dimler, Northern Regional Research Laboratory, Peoria, Illinois. "Fructose and its derivatives," C. P. Barry and John Honeyman, King College, University of London. "Psicose, sarbose and tagatom," J. V. Karabinoa, Saint Procopiw College, Lirrle, Illinois. "Acetals and ketals of the tetritols, pentitols and hexitols," S. A. Barker and E. J. Bourne, The University of Birmingham, England. "The gyeals," Burekhardt Helfericb, Chemisobes Institute der Universitiit, Bonn, Germany. "The chemistry of the 2-amino sugars (2-amino-2-deoxy-sugars)," A. B. Foster and M. Stacey, Depatment of Chemistry, The University of Birmingham, England. "The size and shape of some palysaccharide molecules," C. T. Greenwood, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland. There is little in this volume to interest the reader of popular discussions of science. The student of carbohydrate chemistry, however, will find described not only the reactions of easily
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recognizable types of compounds but also good discussions of less familiar compounds such as the carhohydrate-derived 1,6-anhydrobexoiurmoses and glycals and the rare ketohexoses d-psicose, d-sorbose and d-tngatose. The final chapter listed above gives a clear yet concise description of the various methods available for determining size and shape of carbohydrate molecules and then presents an excellent review of our present knowledge concerning the moleculm dimensions and structure of some polysaccharides other than startreh>nd cellulose.
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IRWIN B. DOUOLASS
or MAIN= ORONO.MMNE
ELECTRON STRUCTURES OF ORGANIC MOLECULES
Lloyd N. Ferguson, Associate Profe~80101 Chemistry, Howard University. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1952. xi 335 pp. nludrated. 16 X 2 3 cm. 36.50.
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T o A beginning student in physical organic chemistry, Ferguson has made a thorough and digestible summation of current thinkine on the electronic structures of oreanic molecules. Almost no reactions are discussed as such since the author adheres closely to the eubjeet matter described hy the title. The chapter on types of bands, absorption spectroscopy, and aromatic substitution are very well mitten. Personally, I would like to have seen the chapter on intemolecular forces expanded. The author discusses free and hindered rotation but omits the timely topic of confornation or constellation. I n the same chapter, he d i s cusses H. C. Brown's B and F strain theories but omits I strain. This is perhaps a matter of taste, however. The influence of Branch and Calvin, to whom the book is dedicated, is apparent on the author's thinking, although the book is not a second edition of their 1941 treatise. As an example, the chapter a n magnetic susceptibility is largely concerned with metal chelates, a subject which might not have been included by many authors. The hook will make a. good reference in physical organic chemistry though it is not apparent that i t could be used alone as a text for a. conventional course.
