book reviews Experimental Organic Chemistry
David Todd, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1979. i t 347 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.3 X 17.3 cm. $13.95. This laboratory text, according t o the author, was written for both the 10 percent of students in a beginning organic chemistry course who will become professional chemists and the90 percent who will not. In my opinion, David Todd has successfully met that goal, and he has written a book that is truly a textbook for the organic chemistry laboratory rather than the typical compendium of techniques and experiments. The scope of the hook scems mast appropriate for the first course in Organic Chemistry. The most attractive feature of this text to me is its integration of theory and practice. Each new technique is carefully introduced within the framework of an experiment which also includes chemistry that is new to the students. The experiments selected by the author should appeal to a wide student audience, and they frequently include novel, non trivial twists: e s . . a different non-ool-
of an isotopic label. The writing is both easily understood and informal, and the content-background information, experimental details, common student errors, number of experimentsseems to have been selected with the interests and limitations of the student in mind. I recommend Experimental Organic Chem~stryby David Todd as one of the better texts for the organic chemistry laboratory. Any text that includes the preparation of ice cream would be difficult for me to ignore. Wilmer K. Fife Indiana Univmity-Purdve Universityat Indianapolis I~ianapoils.IN 46202
The third edition does not represent as drastic a change over the second, as the second did over the first. The most notable omissions from the third edition are the experiments with analog computers and an appendix on symmetry operations. I t is with regret that we see the analog computer experiments deleted. The decision to drop the experiments may have been because the small modestly priced analog computer has almost disappeared from the marketplace. Another half-dozen experiments were dropped or modified. Added were experiments on the repeat distance of a fiber by X-ray, resonance stabilization energy by calorimetrv. a kinetic cuncentratiun-iumo
ment. The format of the book remains unchanged. There are three parts, discussion of theory and principles, experiments with brief but clear directions, and appendices of physical constants and brief instructions for various laboratory operations. The theory and experimental directions are straightforward and more than adequate. However, they d o not go into as much background and as extensive data treatment as do some other lahoratory books currently available. One example will suffice. The experiment on the vibrations-rotation spectra of the hydrogen halides does not include the data treatment t o obtain hoth the rotational constant, B,, and the vibration-rotation interaction constant, e., that several other books do describe. The vibratiun-rotation interaction constant is not even mentioned. Teachers who have used the earlier editions with satisfaction will he satisfied with the present edition. Teachers who are looking for a well-written, student-oriented buok with almost fifty experiments will find the bouk worth their consideration. Teachers who want extensive coverage of hoth theory and data treatment should look elsewhere. H. Lawrence Clever Emory University Aflanta. GA 30322
Editors: Hugh W. Salzberg, Jack I. Morrow, Stephen R. Cohen, and Michael E. Green. Maemillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1978. xi 516 pp. $14.95. The title is altered, the publisher is new, hut this is the third edition of a physical chemistry manual first published in 1966. A series in which the number of pages haveactuallv shown aslight . decrease witheachedition. The earlier editions were reviewed (this Journal 43,450 (1966) and 47, A530 (1970)). The first edition was criticized for not meeting the challenges in teaching modern physical chemistry. The second edition met the criticism by the addition of 15 new experiments. They included experiments in mass spectrometry, uv and visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, magnetochemistry, photochemistry, vacuumsystems (BET adsorptive), and analog computer (kinetics experiments). The second edition was criticized for using too many experiments that required specialized equipment. However, most of the many experiments that could he carried out with simple equipment were retained from the first edition.
+
A380 1 Journal of Chemical Education
Group Theory Made Easy for Scientists and Engineering
Nyoyopothi V. V. J . Suxmy and Mark A. Samuel, John Wiley d: Sons, Surnerset, 1979. v 174 pp. Figs. and tables. 25.5 X 16 cm. $14.50. The authors are physicists and they seem t o be writing for physics students primarily. They state that the book is designed for a one-semester course for students who have had courses in Calculus, Elementary Linear Algehra, and Modern Physics or Introductory Quantum Mechanin. The level and choice of topics are not well suited for chemistry majors. In the Preface theauthors list theareas covered as including atomic physics, nuclear ohvsies. oarticle ohvsics. solid-state uhvsies:
+
texts on group theory and have concentrated on discussion of illustrative problems. There are no character tables other than those used in examples.
There is a very brief chapter on matrices and algebras; i t is probably inadequate for mast chemistry students. There is one brief chapter on groups; a very brief one on Lie groups, and a good chapter on representations and characters. The remainder of the book is devoted t o applications. The m m t "chemical" section concerns molecular vibrations, but it is brief and not as well done as in manv other books. The brief treatments are often.difficult t o follow. There are numerous errors; for example, Hermitian and Abelian are misspelled. There are several good books on group theory which are written a t an appropriate level for chemistry students and which deal with chemical problems. This book is not one of them. The title is somewhat misleading since the authors seem to have only physics students in mind. For that group it appears to be a worthwhile text. Bodle Douglas Universityof Pittsborg Pittsburgh. PA 15260
Computer-Assisted Studies of Chemtcal Structure and Biological Function
Andrew J. Stuper, William' E. Brugger, and Peter C. Jurs, John Wiley &Sons, Somerset, 1979. v 220 pp. Figs. &tables. 23.5 X 16 cm. $23.50. This book describes the application of pattern recognition techniques. It discusses the methods of pattern recognition, chemical structure information handling, and eomputer systems which have been developed for these purposes. The hook also gives evaluations of several structure-function relation-
+
appendix which lists 60 musk odorants. The first chapter presents a brief introduction to semi-empirical, linear free energy, FreeWilson, and quantum mechanical methods in drug design; this chapter also includes an introduetorv discussion on the aoolications
the topics covered. The remainder of the book deals with pattern recognition. Chapter 2 discusses the principles of pattern recognition and covers some of the basic methods used as well as pre-processing techniques and classification methods. In chapter 3 various chemical structure descriptors are discussed. The Wiswesser line notation and connection tables are described as explicit representations of molecular models; the routine, UDRAW, a eomputer-controlled graphical input, is discussed as a method for transforming a structural diagram into a computer-compatible format. The remainder of this chapter deals with the development of various molecular structure descriptors including fragment, environment, connectivity, and geometrical descriptors. The fourth chapter covers the use of nonparametric methods for developing discriminant functions. Chapter 5 describes a modular computer system designed to conduct pattern recognition studies. The final two chapters give examplesof pattern recognition studies with selected biologically active compounds. Chapter 6 gives pattern recognition analyses for two drug sets: the first is a 219-compound set of psy-
chatropic agents and the second is a 160compound set of barbiturates. Chapter 7 gives same pattern recognition studies of olFactory stimulants along with some hrief background infarmstion on olfaction. The book is recommended for specialists who need an introduction to Dattern recoenition and its npplirntlm to their pnrttcular problem. The liwmturr rrferenrei. Z X in all. give the reader ample opportunity to explore the numerous applications to which pattern recognition has been put. Wayne K . Anderson State Univesity of New Ywk at Buffalo Buffalo, NY 14260
Primary Metabolism: A Mechanlstlc Approach Editor: J. Stauton, Oxford University Press, NY, 1978. vii 177 pp. Figs. and tables. 22.5 X 14.5 cm. $16.50.
+
This short teat from the Oxford Chemistry Series provides a concise coverage of material defined hy the author as metabolic pathways which furnish essential materials and energy used by living cells for their maintenance and growth. The book is written from the viewpoint of an organic chemist, and the first half em~hasizesrelatianshios beaction mechanisms are numerous, with eonsideration of intermediates involved in each process, t h e nature of elect~onicshifts when one intermediate is converted to another, and energetics of the changes. Chapters 1 4 are devoted to ways in which chemical energy stored in ATP is used to drive thermodv-
oxidative reactions of catabolism. The second half of the book emphasizes biochemical integration of reactions into metabolic pathways. Chapters 8-10 supply a detailed analysis of glucose catabolism, photosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism. In each case three features are stressed: energetics, preparative strategy, and reaction mechanisms. Chapter 11departsfrom central metabolic pathways to focus on biochemical processes involving tetrahydrofolic acid and the oool of one-carbon units a t oxidation
of primary aminogroups of amino acids and pyridoxal phosphate. Structures and mechanisms abound in this treatment of metabolic reactions, but the author intentionally omits considerations of reaction kinetics and enzyme catalysis. Because the hook is not meant to he a comprehensive coverage of metabolism, it cannot he used as a primary text in ageneral biochemistry course. Furthermore, the high ~eading level and lack of references and study questions would hinder its use in most undergraduate courses. It might prove useful in advanced metabolism courses or as library resource material to students and teachers of biochemistry. Martha J. Gilleland California State Coliep. Bakersfield Bakersfield. CA 93309
Volume 56. Number 12, December 1 9 7 9 / A381
