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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2005, Vol. 48, No. 12
Book Reviews Handbook of Biotransformations of Aromatic Compounds. By Brian L. Goodwin. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 2005. xiii + 2205 pp. 22 × 28.5 cm. ISBN 0-41527176-2. $450.00. Medicinal chemists have recognized the importance of metabolism of drugs and biosynthesis of natural products for the development and design of new therapeutic agents. Advances in commercial biosynthesis, biotechnology, and the discovery of new drugs will come from better access to information on the different biotransformations that occur in plants, animals, and microorganisms. This handbook of biotransformations is a reference source of transformations in animals, plants, and microbes of about 20 000 aromatic compounds possessing at least one C6 ring (aromatic rings with less than six carbon atoms are excluded). This handbook, the second volume of Handbook of Intermediary Metabolism of Aromatic Compounds, examines transformations reported since 1972. The first volume, published in 1972, covered transformations reported from 1900 through 1972. The handbook consists of two parts. In the first part, Reactions of Individual Compounds, organized alphabetically, references are presented on metabolic reactions that yield the title compound and on metabolites generated from the compound. References are arranged by the type of organism and microorganism
employed. The second part, Enzymes and Reactions, contains 10 chapters and consists of classification of the types of biotransformations with short explanations and references. More than 12 670 references are listed at the end of the handbook. No chemical structures were included in the handbook, but the names of compounds used made it easy to figure them out. The accompanying CD-ROM required no special installation on my PC and was user-friendly. The CD-ROM has a useful searchable text for both editions. I was able to search for authors, microorganisms, compounds, etc. using the search engine and was able to print selected pages from PDF files. The content of the handbook is directed toward mammalian and microbial metabolism of therapeutic agents, agrochemicals, and industrial and environmental chemicals. This handbook should be an excellent source of information for academic, clinical, government, and pharmaceutical scientists interested in the metabolism and biotransfromations of xenobiotics. Horacio F. Olivo Division of Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry College of Pharmacy The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242 JM058217X 10.1021/jm058217x
