BOOK REVIEWS Chemistry in NobAqueour Solvents
Hany H. Sisln; University of Florida, Gainesville. Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry Series. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1961. vii 119 pp. Figs. and tables. 13 X 18.5 cm. $1.95.
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The first two volumes in the new paperback series, Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry, came off the press in December. One is Sisler's "Chemistry in NonAqueous Solvents," the other is VanderWerf's "Acids, Bases, and the Chemistry of the Covalent Bond." The series, edited by Sisler and VsnderWerf, is intended to provide supplementary textual materials for general chemistry teachers and the abler students of general chemistry. Sisler's book deals with chemical reactions in solvents other than water, and it thereby leads its readers to a better understanding of reaotions taking place in water at the same time that it liberates them f ~ o mtheir aqueous provincialism. This is accomplished in five chapters averaging 22 pages each. The first chapter discusses the role of the solvent in chemical reactions taking place in solution. The effect of solubility relationships is illustrated by the reaction between aqueous silver nitrate and a q u e ous barium chloride precipitating silver chloride in contrast with the reaction between liquid ammonia solutions of silver chloride and barium nitrate to produce a precipitate of barium chloride.
The importance of the physical properties of the solvent is discussed, such as the effect of dielectric constant on solubility of ionic compounds and of viscosity on electrolytic conductance. The effect of chemical properties of the solvent is discussed a t some length. Assuming that the reader is acquainted with the Br$nsted and Lewis definitions of acids and bases, Sisler discusses the leveling effect of the solvent with admirable clarity. In the second chapter, chemistry in liquid ammonia is discussed to the degree of completeness appropriate to readers of this series. I t is pointed out thst liquid ammonia was the first non-aqueous solvent to receive systematic investigation, due credit being given to Franklin, Kraus and Cady for their work begun more than a half-century ago. This work not only advanced the knowledge of nitrogen compounds hut established the value of liquid ammonia as a solvent in many types of organic and inorganic syntheses. In the third chapter sulfuric acid as solvent is discussed, credit being given to the pioneer work of Hantzsch, the investigations of Hammett in the 1930's and the more recent work by Gillespie. Here the reader should pause to reflect thst the strongest acids possible in water, ammonia, and sulfuric acid are hydronium ion, ammonium ion and HsSOlt ion, respeotively; and that the strongest, bases possible in these respective solvents are hydroxyl ion, amido ion and HSOIion.
Hamy H. Sisler, Chemistry in Non-Aqueous Solvents Calvin A. Vande~Werf,Acids, Bases, and the Chemistry of the Covalent Bond Robert R. H e i h and Roland W . Ure, Jr., Thermoelectricity: Science and Engineering Henry Eying, C . J . Christensen, and H. S. Johnston, editors, Annual Review of Physical Chemistry. Volume 12, 1961 Eugen Medocher, Quantum Mechanics G. Porter, editor, Progress in Reaction Kinetics. Volume 1 The Chemistry of Natural Products, (IUPAC Symposium) John R. Catch, Carbon-14 Compounds Jacob C m q , Semimicro Qualitative Analysis: A Non-Hydrogen Sulfide System G o s t a Charlot, Les MBthodes de la Chimie Analytipe: Analyse QuantiBtive MinBrale. Brian A. Foz and Allan G. C a m e ~ aA, Chemicd Approach to Foodand Nutrition M. C. Cobb, The Scientific Approach to Career Planning Waller J . Gensler and Kinereth D. Gender, Writing Guide for Chemists J . T k l i s , R. C. Gloss, D. J . Hughes, and A. R . Meetham, editors, Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Physics. Volume 1, A to Compensated Bars V e n a H. Cheldelin, Metabolic Pathways in Microorganisms
In Chapter 4 the author shifts from amphiprotic to aprotio solvents and usea the Lewis definitions of acids and bases in discussing chemical reactions occurring in liquid dinitrogen tetroxide and in liquid sulfur dioxide. The final chapter attempts to give Bome indication of the great variety of solvents available to the chemist and mentions a few pertinent facts about several basic solvents, a few neutral solvents, and some scidio solvents--especially acetic acid. Any student or teacher reading this little book will be reminded that mcst reactions occur in solution-often in aqueous aolntion. The fact that water served as the solvent medium in so many of the reaotions carried nut by chemists up to the turn of the century obscured the profound influence of the solvent on the course of chemical reactions. Obviously the only reagents available for use in a given solvent are those that can exist for an appropriate length of time in that solvent. This book discusses not only the leveling effect of the solvent but also the effects of oxidizing and reducing characteristics. Solvolysis and solvation are illustrated with numerous examples. This hook is highly recommended to the audience for which it was written. Good diagrams and a good index add to its value. LAWRENCE P. EBLIN Ohio University Athens
Acids, Bares, and the Chemistry of the Covalent Bond
Calvin A. Va'anderWerf, University of Kansas, Lawrence. Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry Series. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1961. ix 117 pp. Figs. and tables. 13 X 19 cm. Paperbound. $1.95.
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This book, one of the two v & n e s first issued in the new paperback series, Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry, deals with the making and breaking of bonds. The book consists of six chapters averaging 19 pages each. In the first chapter the reactions of covalent compounds are classified as (1) free radical reactions, in which electrons are paired or unpaired, and (2) polar reactions, in which electron pairs are shared or unshared. The polar reactions, which involve electron-pair donors and electron-pair acceptors, are the ones with tihid. tl& hruk is conrcrnrd. 11)the wrmd chnpwr, the r ~ a d r ris I d frbm the early cxncrirnrr~tnldcfirlirionr of acids and b&es -through the Arrhenius theory of 1887 to the Br$nsted-Lowry concept of 1923. Topics discussed include conjugate acid-base pairs, relative strengths of acids and bases, amphiprotic substances, the leveling effect of solvents, the types of neutralization reaction typical of protonic solvents, the preparation of weak acids and weak bases by protolytic rertctions, and the hydrolysis of anions and hydrated cations. In Chapter 3 VanderWerf probes the question, "What structural features confer Volume
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