J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 6503–6503 6503
Guide to Fluorine NMR for Organic Chemists. By William R. Dolbier, Jr. John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, NJ. 2009. xiv þ 256 pp. 16 24 cm. ISBN 978-0-470-19341-9. $89.95. The recent publication of several books on fluorine in medicinal and bioorganic chemistry highlights the popularity of fluorine for small molecule property and activity modulation. This book is a stand-alone volume intended to facilitate the interpretation of NMR characterization data for lightly fluorinated small organic molecules. The book contains seven chapters, beginning with “General Introduction” (Chapter 1) and “An Overview of Fluorine NMR” (Chapter 2). Subsequent chapters discuss specific types of fluorine substituents and their NMR characteristics. The book concludes with two indices. Having spent the past 5 years looking for a book like this, I agree with the author that there is no other place to find a thorough, understandable introduction to fluorine NMR. While I highly recommend this book, there are some details that could significantly improve subsequent printings. For example, the table of contents was more useful than the index for locating topics of interest. I found the general index to be short and missing many significant topics. The compound index is very valuable and organized by functional group components; however, these component headings are difficult to see and are not present on every page. The inconsistent and non-IUPAC nomenclature and alphabetization make it difficult to find molecules in the compound index. Significant
pedagogical improvements could be made to Chapter 2 in explaining first-order spin-spin coupling. While three-bond coupling is expected, the importance of one-, two-, four-, and five-bond coupling of fluorine to other NMR nuclei is not widely expected by chemists who have not encountered fluorine before. Spectral examples and splitting trees in addition to the J values would significantly enhance the instructive nature of Chapter 2. Also helpful would be a list of coupling abbreviations that better explain some of the complex splitting patterns summarized in later chapters. Finally, there are a number of typographical errors that I expect will be corrected in the next printing. While the book has flaws, kudos to the author for recognizing the need for this book and for producing a valuable resource for the chemical community. This book is an essential introduction and reference for all institutions and organizations that have the capability of 19F NMR. It is essential for any medicinal chemist who needs to characterize molecules containing fluorine. Stephen D. Warren Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Gonzaga University Spokane, Washington 99258
DOI: 10.1021/jm901347b Published on Web 09/25/2009
