JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
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CHEMISTRY OF CARBON COMPOUNDS. VOLUME I*. GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND ALIPHATIC COMPOUNDS
Edited by E. H.Rodd. Elsevier Publishing Co., Houston, Texas, 1951. xv 777 pp. Illustrated. 16 X 23.5 om. Subscription price, 518.00; single volume, $20.70.
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THEREia great need for an upto-date, authoritative reference work intermediate in size between Beilstein's "Handbuoh der organischen Chemie" on the one hand and the more comprehensive textbooks such as "Karrer" on the other. One of the chief obiects of such a reference work is to ~rovidea handv source of
or, where they exist, to more extensive secondary sources where complete references and a critical consideration are given. Another objeot is to summarize the literature not yet included in "Beilstein" on such compounds. The first objeot was attained to a remarkable degree by Meyer and Jacobsen's "Lehrhuch der oreanischen Chemie" and to a lesser extent bv t,he vnrioun edi-
torsare seeking to make the present series a successor ta "Richter" and in the first volume the literature of the classes of compounds included is covered to approximately the same extent. The general plan of the two series also appears to be similar. In the present work there has been marked expansion of the space devoted to introductory chapters (from 89 pages in the third English edition to 217 pages). These chapters have been
written by outstanding authorities and are very worth while resding, although they do notcontributegreatly to the refereneevalue of the series. The chapter on quantitative analysis ofembon compounds by R. Belcher is especially valuable because it gives the most recent methods and discusses them critically. Many will disagree with the conclusion that in general semimicro methods have the advantage over macro methodq'but it is interesting to have the comparison detailed. The other ten chapters in this section include an historical introduction on the structure of organic compounds, a short outline of classification and nomeuclature, and a far-too-brief section on literature and documentation, all by the editor. H. D. Springall has contributed a. discussion of physical properties and a brief section on modern concepts of acids and bases. The latter will be unpopular in this country because it dismisses the widely used Lewis Concept in a short, uncomplimentary paragraph. A short chapter on crystallography by A. F. Wells is noteworthy Ior the clarity with which it presents the limitations of X-ray methods as applied to organic compounds. Chapters on light absorption by E A. Braude, stereochemistry by E. E. Turner, mechanisms by E. D. Hughes, and free radicals by D. H. Hey and W. A. Waters canclude this first portion of the hook. The discussion of meehanisms is a brief summary emphasizing especially the work of Ingold, Hughes, and their collaborators. I t is gratifying that no signs are placed on the symbols for the various electronic effects ( I . E. T. etc.), which is nrobablv the best wav to overcome
less widely used. The remainder of the volume (510 pages) is devoted to a systematic presentation of aliphatic chemintry through the mono-
FEBRUARY, 1953 functional compounds and the following bifunctional classes: glycols, hydroxycarhonyl compounds, and dicarhonyl compounds. The writers of these sections are mainly younger British chemists in university positions. A. W. Johnson, well known for his monographs on acetylenic oompounds, heads a rather large group from Cambridge University which has contributed eight of the eleven chapters. All of the chapters m e uniformly good. The literature is covered to the extent projected, references are mostly well chosen, and British papera are not given undue prominence. Some improvement could he effected if the limitations of synthetic methods were given more carefully. When dealing with individual compounds, it would he helpful to have more often an evaluation of synthetic methods or at least an indication of methods of only historical importance or of little synthetic value. In this respect it is interesting to compare the present work with the recent revision of Whitmore's "Organic Chemi* try." In the latter more attention has been given to individual compounds and to practical aspects of their laboratory and industrial synthesis. There is also less introductory material of a purely elementary nature in "Whitmore," so that space is saved without detracting from the value of the book. It is convenient to have both volumes available for quick reference because they are frequently supplementary to one another. This reviewer is of the o inion that for the classes of compounds treated in Volume I of the new series, "Whitmore" is slightly better, hut this is unlikely to hold for future classes where the much shorter "Whitmare" is less adequate. The index of a. reference work is of great importance for its usefulness. Individual compounds appear to be carefully covered in the index of the volume under consideration, hut subjects receive incomplete listing. Spot checking reveals that under the entry "allyl position" for instance, three entries are given, hut the most important one (pages 208-9) has been omitted, as well as a shorter reference (page 280). Under "esterification" the principal reference (page 581 ff.) has been omitted. Other examples are easily found. I t is to he hoped that in the general index, scheduled for Volume V, an effort will he made to correct these omissions and to distinguish clearly between the principal and the subsidiary referenoes to each subject and oompound. In conclusion, it may he said that this first volume of "Chemistry of Carbon Compounds" gives promise that the series will achieve moderately well the objectives mentioned earlier. This reference work belongs on the shelves of scientific libraries in all universities, colleges, and industrial arganiz@ions. I t wiU.also be most useful.& tAe practicing orgahic ohemist if he can afford the high price (nearer $100 than 590 even on subscription if Volume I" is s. oriterion), but the extravagant claim that "it will provide the most authoritative information and guidance on practioally every fact he needs in his daily work" must he discounterl.
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THOMAS I. JACOB8
Umvmsam or CALI~ORNIA Loa AN(IELEB, CALIPOBNI*
WilJimm F. Ehret, Professor of Chemistry, New York University.
Third edition. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., New York, 1950. x
+ 511 pp.
198 figs. 18.5 X 25.5 cm. $4.50.
TRATthe past has had an even greater than usual influence on this text is recognized in its title. "The present volume is a thorough revision of Smith's Intrduclmy College Chemistry hg J m e s Kendall (1938). . . The present revision adheres as closely as possible to the principle of 'progressive repetition' established as a working formula by Alexander Smith in his fir:; text in 1906: No conception is defined and no generalization or law is developed, until such a point has been reached that applications of the conception and experimental illustrations, later to he related in the law, have already been encountered, and there is about to be occasion for further applications and illustrations of the same things in the chapters immediately succeeding. In these chapters the applications are frequent and explicit. Later page references and parentheses continue to indicate the reourrence of examples which might otherwise fail to he noticed." While this approach has been assiduously retained, the present volume differs considerably from its preceding edition. Instead of the small pages of the predecessor, the third edition is printed on comparatidy large, double-column pages, and its total number of words has been almost douhled. There is considerable cross indexing, forward as well as back. References for student reading, mostly to articles in the EDUCATION, have been added at the ends J o m OF~ CHEMICAL of most chapters. Nomenclature of compounds has been changed. Recommendations of the International Union of Chemistry (J.Am. Chem. Soe., 63, 889 (1941); Chem. Abs., 39, 5869 (1945)) are followed. FeOa is named iron (111) oxide; Cu(NH&CI is diammine copper ( I ) chloride. Older names are sometimes added in parentheses. The earlier editions used molecular equations almost exclusively. This edition, however, uses many ionic equations, written in the form illustrated by the following from page 225:
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(This particular example is quoted because it illustrates a number of the conventions followed. It, like quite a few of the others, requires more than one line because of the narrow columns.) Substances that do not participate in the reaction are frequently retained in the equations. For some reasohs, when heat is included in an equation it is always written on the right side, with the appropriate plus or minus sign, and similarly whenever electrons appear in equations (half-reactions) the electrons are invariably written on the left side. I n general, the book emphasizes a historical approach, sometimes unduly, and in some places it never gets around to modern ideas. Thus, atomic weights are defined only as relative. .sea-water contains bromine (in the form Page 152 states: Page 156 speaks of the oil-well brines of sodium bromide). of southern California "which contain from 30 to 70 Darts oer million of iodine in the form of sodium iodide." The term '
