hlyerhof fermentation of glucose are summarized by H. 0. L. Rscher. Recent advances in the preparation of pept,ides by the isocyanate, phosphoram, and phosphite ester syntheses are critically discussed hy 8. Golrlschmidt and 11. L. Krauss. In addition, numerous heterocyclic compounds are prepared from aeetoacetaldehyde, and unique carboxylic acids by the dx-carbon chain-lengthening process. Even the examples chosen in the chapter on selective reductions by bydrides are in the area of natural products, and many selective oxidations with noble metal ccatalysts axe illustrated with sugars, polyhydric alcohols, and steroidw. A small chapter on the continuous preparation of phenyleodium somehow seem out of place. The dual-tipple, trimotar, multiloop unit is designed to produce twenty moles of phenvlsodium per working . . day. This reviewer has developed a generally warm feeling for the book. The translation from the German is excellent. Except for a very few sentences, the treatise might well have been composed in English. Much unpublished work is recorded, and numerous experimental procedures for the preparation of specific compounds are collected at the end of each review. The practical use of the book will depend on a thorough howledge of its contents rather than the nina-page subject index. On the other hand, no names were sacrificed in compiling and croas-indexing the twenty-page liat of 1600 authors from the 1000 references. HARRY D. ZOOK Pansyluania State University University Potk
An Outline of Organic Chemistry
Corwin Hansch, Pomona College, Claremont, California, and George Helmkamp, University of California at Riverside. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 336 pp. Figa. New York, 1963. vii and tables. 21 X 28cm. Paperbound. $3.98.
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As in the first edition, the authors have established an order of presentation based on functional groups, special topics (amino acids, carbohydrates, etc.), t~ndaromatic compounds. This division allows a rather complete outlining of the chemistry in each area. The prime virtue of the book is the numerous problems plus answers to most. The problems serve not only to review the material in a particular c h a p ter, but also bring in reactions and concepta covered in earlier chapters. In particular, an effort is made to teach the student how to approach the problem of synthesizing a compound. Reaction mechanisms are presented frequently to help develop an intuitive feeling about organic reactions as the student commits to memory factual information. The authors have increased the content of the chapter on stereoisomerism, s. natural outgrowth of their emphasis on reaction mechanism, and have added a useful introductory chapter on molecular orbital concepts.
The student of beginning organic chemistry could well afford the nominal price of this book for use as a. supplement to his classroom text and the student who must review first year organic chemistry would find this book admirably suited to that end.
Introduction to Modern Biochemistry
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LEROYW. HAYNES College of Wooster Womter, Ohio
Topier in Organic Chemistry
L w i s F. Fieser and Mary Fiesm, both of Hsnrard University. Reinhold Publishing Ca., New York, 1963. xii 668 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 24 e r r . $14. This reviewer delights in reading texts by the Fieaem. Whimeicdy, each is dedicated to a beautiful Siamese cat, but the prose of the texts is a credit to the writers' craft. Crammed with precise information, interlaced with lively, scientifically significant historical dramas, these books can be alternatelystudied or read with interest akin to reading thrillers. A strikine example is elaborated on pp. 126-7 in connection with the structure of pelletierine. I t is no accident that these texts are found in the personal libraries of many organic chemist8 here and abroad. 'Topics" is composed of two parts: Part 1, with nine chapters left out of "Advanced Organic Chemistry" (see J . C h . Ed., 39, A902 (November, 1962)), and Part 2, containing several corrections to "Advanced," new references up-dating sections already treated in "Advanced" (a total of 226) and 34 entirely new sections. The chapters in Part 1 me readily recognized as up-dated and, in part, extensively rewritten chapters from "Organic Chemistry," third edition: Chapter 1, Palynuclear Hydrocarbons; Chapter 2, Aromatic Heterocyclic Compounds; Chapter 3, Alkaloids; Chapter 4, Terpenoids; Chapter 5, Steroids; Chapter 6, Vitamins; Chapter 7, Chemotherapy; Chapter 8, Synthetic Polymers; and Chapter 9, Dyes. Some randomly selected new sections from Part 2 are: R and S Specifications of Configurations, Reduction with Diimide, Twistane, and Selective Chemical Cleavange of Proteins. A8 was donne in "Advanced," ''Topics" also includes one- or two-line biographies for many scientists, both young and old. One hundred seventy-nine new sketches are given making nearly 800 in both books. Typography is generally excellent. Ball and stick models are used when a simple diagram would not show sufficient detail. Errors are few, one being the misspelling of Claimn (p. 540). This text, like its predecessor, is recammended for the personal library of the practicing organic chemiat and as a supplementary reference work for a course in advanced organic chemistry.
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ERNESTI. BECKER Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn Brooklyn, New Ymlc
Peter t i o d s a , Thiversity of Munich. Translated hy Charles H. Doering, Iir~iversity of California School of Medicine, San Francisco. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1963. xviii 433 pp. Figs. and tables. 17 X 25 om. $10. Thanks to the development of newer and more probing techniques, our bioehemicd knowledge has accumulated at an ever increasing pace. The delineation of most metabolic pathwaytys, the unfolding of the mechanism of biosynthesis of macromolecules, the unraveling of the primary . .
diseases," are some of the numerous out. standing discoveries achieved in the short span of the last two decades. With the development of thedectronmicroscopemd histochemical techniques, it became evident that most, if not all, biochemical events in the cell take place in very highly organized systems, which could be discerned and studied. Thus, not only has the volume of biocheniml knowledge grown by leaps and bounds, but also the scope of biochemistry has widened to include the physical aspects of the manifestations of life on one side and the complex organization of living systems on the other. This poses a formidable task not only to the students of this field but undoubtedly to the authors who endeavor to correlate an enormous number of diverse facts, keep them up to date, and present them in s, coherent medium-sized textbook. In this volume, Professor Karlson has ably accomplished these objectives. The emphasis in this book is one the fundamental bio~hvsical and biochemical concepts that- underlie the various aspects of life in microbial, plant, and animal svstema. Methodolow and clinical asGets of bioehemistr~aretourhed upon only very slightly. The text is divided into 23 chapters beginning with an introductory one on organic chemistry. Chapters 2 through 9 deal with the chemistry and metabolism of nitrogenous compounds. Chapters 10 and 11 cover biological oxidation and the citric acid cycle, while chapters 12, 13, and 14 are devoted to the chemistry and metabolism of lipids. A unique feature of this book is the placing of the chapters on carbohydrates (15, 16, and 17) after those
that the arrangement of material ior didactic purposes is a subjective point. The correlation of various pathways of intermediary metabolism is discussed in chapter 18. Chapters 19 through 23 deal with the "topoehemistry" of the cell, hormones, mineral metabolism, nutrition and vitamins, and special biochemical function of certain organs. Most recent findings are often included but the original references are not given. From two to nine well-selected review references are listed after each chapter; some of which are German but the majority are English. The most recent reference is dated 1962. Volume 41, Number 6, June 1964
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