Book Review pubs.acs.org/OPRD
Organic Synthesis Using Transition Metals, 2nd ed. By Roderick Bates. Wiley: New York. 2012. + xi pp. £39.95. ISBN 978-1-119-97893-0. n the 12 years since the first edition of Roderick Bates’s excellent book, much has happened in the field of organometallic chemistry as applied to organic synthesis. The author has completed a mammoth task and is to be congratulated on producing a fine book, of use to all chemists who use transition metals in organic synthesis. The author seems to be able to summarise the essential chemistry in a concise, yet readable, account, providing understanding of the key issues which affect reactivity and selectivity, and in fact everything an organic chemist needs! I particularly liked the chapter on coupling reactions which, in 67 pages has 187 schemes, 617 numbered compounds, and 229 references. The references are up to 2011, and quite a few are from Org. Process Res. Dev. This chapter is a fantastic summary of a complex series of reactions and their applications in synthesis (including natural product synthesis). Another chapter which process chemists will enjoy is on C− H activation, where the author has summarised much of the work of the past decade in 27 pages; this chapter will give process chemists ideas for novel synthetic routes to new and existing compounds. Further chapters on carbonylation, alkene and alkyne insertion reactions, and cycloaddition and cycloisomerisation reactions are also of interest to the synthetic organic chemistry community. The chapters on the various complexes (alkenes, alkynes, carbene, allyl, dienes, and arenes) cover industrially important chemistry including metathesis, but I found that the focus was sometimes towards what the complexes are and less on what they do. This, however, does provide the understanding necessary to predict reactivity and selectivity. Hydrogenation using transition metals is not covered in this book, but since there are many books on this topic, it is not a significant omission. In conclusion, this is an outstanding book which should be of value to all process chemists, as well as to postgraduate students.
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Trevor Laird, Editor AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Published: April 11, 2013 © 2013 American Chemical Society
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/op4000779 | Org. Process Res. Dev. 2013, 17, 720−720
