BIOCHEMICAL PREPARATIONS VOLUME 5 Edited by Dovid Shemin, Professor, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia Univeraitv. John Wilev & Sons. Inc., New York, i957. IX '115 pp: 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $4.75.
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THE fifth volume of "Biochemical Preparations" appears t,o he a carefully edited continuation of this series. The object of these annual volumes is to
provide a collection of verified preparations for the use of biochemical research workers and for the training of students in biochemistry. While the first objective is admirably realized in Volume 5, the book does not optimally fulfill the second aim, possibly because of the dearth of contributions. Of the 21 preparative procedures, over two-thirds involve t h e use of routine methods of organic chemistry, and only the remaining one-third employs some variety of biochemical methodology. Essentially organic chemical methods are involved in the synthesis of dibenayl phosphorochloridrrte, phosphatidyl ethmalmhe, sodium phosphoereatine, D-plycerie acid-%phosphate, S-suecinyl
coenzyme A, adenine-bC14, %deoxyurihose, D- and hglutamines, homocystinc and homoeystrine, "-, L-, and DL-forms of Shenzylhomocysteine, imidazoleacetic acid hydrochloride and the formimino derivatives of glycine, I.aspartic and kglutamic acids. Typical biochemical proredores me used far the preparation of aldolase, crystalline condensing enzyme, cytochromr C, S a d m o svlmethionine, nieotinamide mononurleotide, and the separation of 5'-deoxyrihonucleotides and the nucleotides of rihonucleie acid. Considerable overlap was noted with similar prepmations in the recently published "Method8 of Enzymology, Volumes 1-111." Particularilv commendeble in this voltnne are the many informative f a o t n o t ~ s provided by the checkers of each preparation, and the oompilation of compounds of biochemical interest which have appeared in the alder "Orgnnir Synthesi~"series. ~
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PROGRESS IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. VOLUME 4 Edited by I. W. Cook, Vice-chancellor, University of Exeter. Academic Press Inc., New York. 1958 ix 256 pp. 15.5 X 25 cm; $8.50.
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THIS is the fourth volume edited hy
J. W. Cook in the series on "Progress in Organic Chemistry." I>eswiptions of rerent developments in n numbcr of rather randoml?; s~leetedfields of organic chemi d r v are present,ed and the general pattern followed is that. employed in the earlier volumes. The six tapirs discussed in the present volumr and their reviewrn are: Naturall.~ Occurring Unsaturated Fatty Acids, F. I>. Gunstone; Free Valence in Conjugatrd Organic Molecules, R. I'ullmen arid A. Pullman; Onygm Heterocyclic Rmpnl Xlrt,aholites, .\V.B. \iThalley; Naturally Occurring 2-.4e?-lcyclohexane-l,:l-I)iones, C. H. Hsssall; Degradation and Synthesis of Peptides and Proteins, A. H. Cook and G. Harris; Fiet,erocyclir Derivatives oi Phosphorous, Armnie and Antimony, F. G. Man,,. Each aubhor is a major contributor to the suhjeet ahout which he has written and thc rcvirws may hc considered authoritntivc. The first chapter provides an cxeell~nt concise survey of method8 of synthesis of nnsaturat,ed fatty ncids as well as an account concerning the orcurrmoe, isolation, and st~.uctut.cof various rwll-known and unusual n n ~ s t u r a t r d ist,t,r acids inclndine those eont,ainine acrtylenic, cyelopropme, and cyelopentens moieties. The omission of jojoba oil as s source of higher monoethenoid fatty ncids is noteworthy only by reason of the otherwise thorouph coverage. A particularly unfortunate typagraphicnl error noted in this chapter (psgc 11, first line) mhstitutcs linalenir acid far linolcic arid. The second chapter shows how- the (Continued on page A618) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
free valence values of individual carbon atoms as well an bond orders in conjugated cyclic materials may he derived. I n the next t n o chapters two mmewhat related groups of natural prodoots arc discussed-fungal metabolites including some of the natural chlorine-rontaininp organic rompounds and other biologically active natural products meh as usnic acid from lichens. The chapter on peptides and proteins (much the largest, comprising I I pages with 484 ~ d e r m r e r )gives a n aerount of rerent advances in t h i ~important field. 1Iet.hods for idmtifyinp terminal groups, far the determination of the total st,rueture, and for chemical synthesis of polypeptides are prrsmted. The biosynthesia of polypeptides is also discussed. In this as ncll as in other chapters, attention is given to problem* of biagenesis. In the last chspter emphasis is on up-t,o-dat,e methods of preparation, hut attention is called t o salient chemical charaet,rristic., psrbiculerly stcreochemistr:and opt,ical activity due to msenic and antimony. A st,rennous effort has obviously been made t o bring the reviews as u p - t d a t e as possible ss evidenced by the numerous references in ~ a r hchapter t o articles p r h l i s h d in 195i.
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L. A . G O L D B L l T T
U. S. D w ~ n r n or r ~A~o n r c u ~ ~ u n ~ Nsr Onm,\as. L a u ~ s m l i ~
THE STRATEGY OF CHEMOTHERAPY Edited by S. T. Cowan and E. Rowoft, Central Public Health Laboratory, London. Cambridge University Press, New York, 360 pp. 16.5 X 25 cm. 19S8. viii
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57. I\' SIXTEEN chapters, the present and future problems of chemotherapy arp reviewed h y nineteen competent and prominent American and British contributors who participated in this symposium in London in April, 1958. Obviously, t h e manunrripts must havc been submitted in advance: the unusually prompt pnhlieat,ion of these artirlrs gives the hook a stamp of timeliness and up-to-dateness. The chapters include such subjects as general hiaehemieal principles of chemotherapy; antibiatirs in chemotherapy: selective inhihition of hacterial cell w d synbhesis; surface-active bactericides: memhrane penetration and the therapeutic value af chemicals; inhibitors of energy supplying reactions; lethal s,vnthesis; selective inhihit,ion of virus mult,iplieation; specific inhibitors of protein ~ynthesis; mechanismfi of chemotherapeutic synergy; and the chemotherapy of hacterial, fungal, and some protozoal diseases. The book in addresped to advanced readers with a well-founded understanding in organic and physical chemistr.~, in microbial biochemistry and t h e horderline areas between these sciences. I t (Continued on. page AO80)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
