book reviews Elements of Stereochemistry
Ernest L. Eliel, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, with a section by F . Rasolo, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1969. 98 pp. Figures. 15 X 23 cm. vi Softbound. $2.95.
+
Professor Eliel has prepared a fine, brief treatment of this subject, written "for any student capable of following a course in organic chemistry." He has sncceeded well in this. His intention was that i t "be used in conjunction with a. texbbook of basic organic chemistry and (not) supplant existillg more detailed text,booksof stereochemistry." This booklet is not a condensation of Dr. Eliel's 1962 monograph which semes quite a different purpose. The new version will he s valuable, quick reference for the tescher. I t will answer most of the qnestions which students raise, and will be an excellent auxiliary reference for t,hem bo consult. Following t,hebrief introduction, history and background, there are chapters on basic concepts and terminology, stereochemistry of carbon compounds and of other tetrahedral elements. These are followed by Dr. B m l o ' s short, hut authoritative and valuable addition on cnordinstion compounds. Finally, there are s. few pages on dynamio stereo-
A62
/
journal of Chemicol Education
On the other hand, some readers may find i t convenient, to have both theory and experimental results in the same volume. Introductory to the descriptive section is a short chapter on the seven crystal systems. The author makes the all-toocommon error of characterizing these on the basis of shapes of unit cells instead of symmetry elements. The real meat is contained in 17 chapters (217 pages) of a. well-organized exposition of inorganic crystal structures. These include: elements, compounds of JOHN W. CHITTUM t,ypes AB, AB2, AzB>, and ABs, ternary The College of Wooster compounds, silicates, borabes, compounds Wooster, Ohio with metal-metal bonds, and alloys. These structures are described, classified, nnrl rliamsaed at leneth from various theoretioal stand points. A very valuable feaFundamentals Of ture of this section is the lavish number CrySta' of references to the original literabure, over H . Krebs, Technical University, Stutt500 of them. Thesealonemakepossession nart. Translated bv P . H . L. Walter, of this book worthwhile. The final chapter skidmore College, Saratoga ~ ~ r i n ~ sis; an glasses, a curious choice for a book wit,h New Ymk. McGrew-Hill Book Co.. . ~ t,his . . ~ ~title. ~ ~ . New York, 1968. xv 405 pp: This book is a translation from the German into English, and therefore inFigs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $13.50. cludes such spellings as vapour, colour, neighbour, centre, sulphor, and the like; The first ten chapters (120 pages) of Dr. E. Goldish will be surprised to learn this book are purely theoretical in nature, that he has been teutonized to Goldisch. and consist largely of elemenbary quantum The alphabetical sequence of the author mechanics, starting with the solut,ion of index is S-, followed by Sch-, followed by the Schrddinger equation for the hydrogen St-; while this may he customary in some atom, and on t,hrough molecular orbital, (hut by no means all) German language crystal field, and ligand field theories. indices, surely the translator could have While this part is clearly and concisely rearranged these into American-English. written, the same material has been covThe legend to Abb.109 in the original ered equally well many limes before, and (Continued on page A64) seems somewhat superfluous in bhis book.
chemistry and stereoregult~rpolymerieation. The hook seems to he adequately indexed. There are 50 problems, eaoh with its answer given in some detail. The publisher has allowed a few obvious typographical errors to appear, most of which are not bothersome, but page 68 of the reviewer's copy is completely blank. Apparently Fig. 46 belongs there. The rest of the 47 figures are clear and helpful. The margins next to the binding are undesirably narrow.
~~~
+
~~~
~
-
~
book reviews German edition (s. 167) of "Mittlere Xnderung der Atom-und Ianenradien mit der Koordinationsmhlhl"comes out (p. 170) "Average alteration of atomic and ionic radii. . . !' There are a number of lapses, e.g., the number of known crystalline modifications of sulfur is at least six, not five (p. 136); helium crystallizes in three different structures not just hexagonal close packed (p. 133); similarly, the polymorphism of bath oxygen and nitrogen (pp. 134-5) is not mentioned. These are minor annoyances, however, and detract little from the value of the book, which is highly recommended to inorganic chemists.
JERRY DONOHUE University of Pennsyhania Philadelphia
Catalytic Conversion of Hydrocarbons
I t is a little unfortunate that in an otherwise very well organized and written book some awkward usages were not edited out. For example, the author's insistence on hyphenating the word coordinate gives rise to the strange-looking words trico-ordinated and pentaco-ordinated, and the author has uniformly used the spelling Bronstedt for Brbnsted, a curious simplifica.tion of typesetting in a book which is already a. challenge to the typesetter. Surprisingly, there appear to be very few sctnal typographical errors. This brief book will inevitably irritate the expert because of t,he sketchy treatment of important subjects. I n a foreword Professor Pines states that the hook "will certainly serve as a. much needed textbook far the advanced students and as a reference book for those interested in the field of catalysis." The book is not suitable as a text, even for advanced students, without considerable supplementary reading. But ss an outline and as a source of references Professor Germain's bogk will be invaluable to those who are interested in getting a broad understanding of the field and to those who can make use of extensive references to the important literature on specific topics.
J. E. Gemain, University of Lyon, France. Academic Press, Inc., New 322 pp. Figs. and York, 1969. xi tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. 512.
JOHN E. BENSON Diekinson College Cadisle, Pennsylvania
+
After examining Professor Germain's book quickly, one is tempted to call i t a bird's-eye view of hydmcmhon catalysis. But d t e r closer examinstion i t might more properly be called s n astronaut's view: the main features of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis of hydrocarbons are described with remarkable conciseness. After two introductory chapters the author succeeds in reviewing hydrocarbon catdysis in a little over 200 pages. Such a brief treatment of a complex subject is to be commended. The main features are touched upon, the documentation is quite complete with over 900 references to the literature through early 1968, and very little of general interest has been omitted. It should be emphasized that this book does not deal primarily with the properties of catalysts hut more with reaction patterns, selectivities and yields for a variety of catalyzed organic reactions. One will look in vain for any lengthy discussions of such important topics in catalysis as specific catalytic activity, metal dispersion and the nature of active centers. As a n example, the very important subject of bifunctional catalysis is introduced in two pages with two references to the vast literature and then more extensively discussed when specific examples of hydrocarbon reforming are treated. The author has defined his purpose in the preface, where he states that "It is t,he aim of this book to help both the classical organic chemist unfamiliar with catalysis and the catalytic worker unfamiliar with organic chemistly, and to bridge the gap between the chemical and physical approaches to catalysis." Because of his organization and emphasis the book will probably be mare useful to the catalytic worker than to the orennir chemist.
A64
/
Journal of Chemical Educofion
Atlas of Mass Spectral Data.
3 Vol.
Edited by E. Stenhagen and S . Abrahamsson, University of Gateborg, Sweden, and F . W. McLafferly, Cornell University, Itheca, New York. Interscience Publishers (division of John Wiley 81 Sons, Inc.), New York, 1969. Vol. 1, xiv 759 88 pp.; Vol. 2, 88 pp.; Vol. 3, xiv 758 xiv 747pp. 88pp. Tables. 22 X 28.5 om. 5150 the set.
+
+
+ +
+
+
Here is s. massive compilation (over 6600 compoonds) of low resolution mass spect,ral data. All are data produced by electron-bombardment ionization. Compounds are ordered by elemental composition. A separate register, included in each volume, makes searching efficient. Relative abundance values far each mass/ charge ratio are given. I n addition a total of relstive abundance values, most abundant peak^, inlet system temperature, and ionizing electron voltage are given. Also the contributor (one of 39 sources) is identified. Molecular weights are calculated on the basis of exact n w clidio masses of the mast abundant isotopes. The major part of the "Atlas" represents data from Dow and API. The tables are print-outs of the camputerbased storage and retrieval system a t the University of Gateborg. The importance and utility of this unique "Atlas" are obvious for anyone using mass spectrometry as an analytical tool. WFK
