welcome revision that presents the current analytical methods and pharmacology for enantiomeric drugs. The book covers a wide scope of topics in drug stereochemistry. The introductory section provides a detailed account of the evolution of stereochemistry, followed by a presentation of fundamental concepts. This background enables the reader to appreciate the issues of drug chirality in subsequent discussions on chemical techniques and pharmacological responses. Because the metabolism of drugs at the molecular level involves enzymes, proteins, and receptors that are chiral molecules, the stereochemical attributes of a drug will govern its biotransformation and effects. One section is devoted to pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences between drug stereoisomers. The use of stereochemically pure drugs is not always a clinical and regulatory requirement. Economically, it is easier to manufacture the racemic mixture of a drug because the production of enantiomerically pure drugs requires additional resources. However, from the pharmaceutical and pharmacodynamic perspectives, drug manufacturers must establish that the enantiomers in the racemic drug do not possess opposite and contraindicative or undesirable effects. Enantiomerically pure drugs must be prescribed if the racemates produce such mixed effects. Chiral analytical techniques are the prerequisite for elucidating the stereochemical influence on the pharmacological effects of a drug. Several chapters present chiral analysis methods, including competitive receptor-antibody binding assays, indirect methods for chromatographic resolution via selective chemical derivatization, and direct methods using various stationary phases based on most of the known separation mechanisms. The material in these chapters is current and provides pharmaceutical scientists and chemists with the means to make a rational choice of analytical methods based on knowledge of drug chemical structures and functionalities. Because the production of enantiomer-
ically pure drugs by chromatographic resolution of the isomers is cost-prohibitive from the standpoint of efficiency, labor, and yield, it is used only as a last resort. The alternatives discussed in this book include various asymmetric synthetic approaches as well as production-scale racemate resolution by crystallization and kinetic resolution. The clinical relevance of chiral drugs and the rationale for considering their development are discussed in a section entitled "Perspectives on the Use of Stereochemically Pure Drugs." A Food and Drug Administration perspective on the development of new stereoisomeric drugs is offered; the control and characterization
BOOKS RECEIVED Advances in Chromatography, Vol. 33 Phyllis R. Brown and Eli Grushka, Eds. Marcel Dekker 270 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10158 1993, 296 pp., $135
This volume contains six contributed chapters on planar chips technology, LC determinations of ligand-biopolymer interactions, expert systems, the use of chromatographic data for pharmacological classification and drug design, fusion reaction chromatography for the analysis of condensed polymers, and enantioselective LC with chiral stationary phases for pharmaceutical analyses. The book is illustrated with photographs, sample chromatograms, and schematic diagrams. References are current through 1992.
This edition presents the current analytical methods Tunneling and pharmacology Scanning Microscopy and for enantiomeric Spectroscopy: Theory, Techniques, and drugs. Applications of the chiral drug as the active ingredient is discussed, and the expected direction of regulatory guidance is proposed. However, this discussion is only one of many regulatory issues that must be considered in shaping the practices of future pharmaceutical science. This book is recommended to practitioners in pharmaceutical industries involved in the development, characterization, and production of chiral drugs, as well as to pharmacokineticists and toxicologists. Students, who often have limited appreciation of the fact that most drugs in today's market are racemates with at least two and maybe several isomers of similar or different pharmacology, will treasure this book as a reference text. Reviewed by Stanley Lam, Par Pharmaceutical, Spring Valley, NY
Dawn A. Bonnell, Ed. VCH Publishers 220 E. 23rd St. New York, NY 10010 1993, 436 pp., $125
This text is intended as a practical guide to the various STM-based surface analytical techniques. Topics include microscope design and operation, theory and methods of tunneling spectroscopy, the structure and preparation of sample and tip surfaces, force microscopy, ballistic electron emission microscopy and the characterization of buried interfaces, applications of STM to electrochemistry, and biological applications. The book is illustrated with numerous scanned images, schematic diagrams, and sample spectra. Appendices include definitions of variables and acronyms as well as numerical calculations of tunneling current.
Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 66, No. 7, April 1, 1994 417 A
