Chemical binding and structure (Spice, J. E.) - Journal of Chemical

Chemical binding and structure (Spice, J. E.). John R. Wasson. J. Chem. Educ. , 1967, 44 (11), p 702. DOI: 10.1021/ed044p702.3. Publication Date: Nove...
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Analysis will show that all major criticisms of the book hinge essentially on its brevity. The teacher has constsntly the feeling that the treatment, if not inadequate, is certainly sketchy; that too much is left unsaid. Yet how much can be said in just275 pages of large type (12point)l But remember, Csrswell's purpose is an "Introduction," a. hook for the non-specidist. Operating within this framework, he keeps it simple, and acquits himself well. WILU~M H. JONES E m ~ University y Atlanta, Georgia

In general the author has presented a satisfactory outline of the reactions of free radio&. T h e n are, however, many sections wherein the discussion should be treated with reservation. For example, the discwion of 1,Zhalogen migration does not even mention the alternate, and often preferable, elimination-addition mechanism. GLENA. RUSSELL Imuo S M e University Ames, Imua 60010 Magnetic Susceptibility

Free Radicals

W i l l h A . P ~ y o rLouisiana , State University, Baton Rouge. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1966. xiii 354 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 om. $12.

L. N . Mulay, Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Interscience Publishers ( a division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), New York, 1966. 132 pp. Figs. and tables. 14 X 21.5 cm. Paperbound. $2.95.

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There are severalseries of volumes whieh make some attempt to cover an area of chemistry comprehensively and which include a chapter on magnetic susceptibility. That there is much duplication in these The preface to this volume indicates an various treatments is inevitable. That attempt to outline the entire field of free the emphases reflect the interests of the radical chemistw a t an introductow level. authors and the purposes of the particular I feel that the en& area bas not heen comseries for which they are writing is also to pletely wvered and that this volume would he expected. he more properly entitled, "Reactive Free The oresent volume is a r e ~ r i n tof s Radicels in Solution." In psrticular, the vhalwr in the Koltholf-Elviu~ 'Trmtiw work an stable free radicals from Gomor) Analytical Chr1ni6trg Part 1, Volurw berg's time to the present is poorly treated 4." Approximately half of the book i dc or ignored completely. voted to an exposition of the 1henr.v and Thevolume is divided into four parts enprinriples whirhform the basis of mapetie titled The Nature of Radicals, The Producmeasurrments. The other half is devoted tion of Radicals, Reactions of Radicals, to experimental techniques and to examand Terminrution Reactions. d e s of analvtioal annlications. The emChapter 2 on thr 1)erecrion of Rndirnl;, pha+is is or, the ride scope of ehernie~l including electron paramngnpti,! rconnnw, prol,lens which have heen studied by mngis particularly weak even in basic definiw t t v suereptibiliry measurements rather tions such as the Bahr magneton and the gthan on exhaustive discussion of particular value. In addition to the chapter on De topics. Thus, although the most extentectian of Radicals, the first part of this sive use of magnetic susceptibility has conbook contains a. reasonably goad chapter cerned the str"ctures of metal cimplexes, on Conformation of Radicals and a brief this topic is treated in three pages, mainly chapter on Energeties and Rates of radical from the valence bond a ~ ~ r o a with e h onlv reaction that does not mention the classical the barest mention of li'gand field theory. wneepts of M. Polanyi. The chapter on By and large, the author has done a good Conformational Analysis suffers by not job of presenting the material within the considering fully tbe data now available limits of the objectives for which it was from e x qprcrrosropy. For eusmplr, the written. The discussion is well organized; gromerrv of the vinyl radical i~ "07 mmt m d . 'l'ht~d!llrlmcebcrwwn ~ o n f i n x m ~ it is usually clear despite an occasional bit of awkward phraseology and an enforced tion and wnformrttion is not a d e q u h y brevity that sometimes interfere. A valtreated for a hook that purportedly emphsi uable feature is the inclusion of detailed sizes basic principles. cdculations from the experimental data. Part two considers the production of whioh are given for several significant radicals via pbotolysis, thermalysis and chemical problem. Numerous references electron transfer. This is a. reasonably to the original literature through 1962 are complete review and is written in a pleasgiven. Though supplementary references ing manner. have been added in thereprinting, they are The third section of this volume wnall to the author's own recent papers. A siders Reactions of Radicals. Aliphatic number of typographical errors remain, and aromatic substitution reactions are hut they are in general not serious. One adequately covered as are s variety of adof these is the repeated use of K for the dition reactions including vinyl polymeriBoltzmann constant. The method of inzation. Chapters on polymerization, oxidicating the sign and magnitude of the dation, and inhibition make this volume ionic susceptibilities in Table 38.X is worthwhile to a student interested in the confusing. more practical aspects of organic chemisAlthough the phenomenon of magnetic trv. , Consideration of diradicd~such as susceptibility has been known for a long ~ncthyltwin Chlprrr 19 i w w11~of place time, it is onlyrecently that its applications a volumr of this type. to structural problems have been widely Part f w r i- entitled Termination R r a c used by chemists. Aa recently as ten tions and appears to have been added as an years ago, the topic was seldom even menafterthought.

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Journal of Chemical Educofion

tioned in s n undergraduate physical chemistry textbook. Happily this situstion h ~ s now changed. The availability of this brief volume will also help to remove msgnetic susceptibility from its previous state as a "poor relation" among instrumental methods. I t is doubtful that it will he widely adopted as an undergraduate text except possibly in a "special topics" wurse. It will probably find its greatest use a8 a suggested supplementary text for the student who is particularly interested in the subject, and as a place to begin for the research worker who is making magnetic measurements for the &st time. B. R. WILLEPORU Bucknell University Lmisburg, PansylYania Chemical Binding and Structure

J. E. Spice, Winchester College, England. Pergamon Press, Inc., New 395 pp. Figs and York, 1966. xiii tables. 13 X 19.5 om. $4.50.

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This hook is a corrected printing of the 1964 edition. I t is part of a series aimed at first- and second-year college students and presents a concise qualitative account of chemical honding and structure. Ten chapters of the book cover the development of quantum chemistry, the periodic table, ionic and covalent bonding, molecuIm geometry, transition metal and electron-deficient compounds, electronic structure and chemical reaxtions, and structure and honding in crystals. The last three chapters discuss various methods of strncture determination. A short bibliography, a set of 67 problems (which are referred to in appropriate places in the text), a table of fundamental constants, tluswers to ahout hdf of the problems, and an index are appended. While muoh of the hook covem items usually encountered in freshman ohemistry, the broad spectrum of topics, especially the chapters on structure determination, and the level of presentation make the book suitable as supplementary material for a high school or freshman course. The wealth of illustrative material, lucidity of presentation, and reasonable cost will be welcomed by students. The book is ruggedly constructed and lasts through handlings by several people. JOHNR. WASSON Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago An Introduction to the Theory of Molecular Structure

JeunJoseph Cha~eUe, University of Lovaniom, Leopoldville, Congo. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1966. 188 pp. Figs. and tahles. 15.5 xii X 23.5 cm. $7.50.

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The title of this hook is slightly misleading; it could better be described as an introduction to the theory underlying speotroscopic methods of studying molecular structure. includine eleotronic. vibrational. and rotational speotra. ~ h e ' b o o kis con: cise, and presents many results without

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