Books
State-of-the-Art Biomedical Applications for LC Liquid Chromatography in Clinical Analysis. Pokar Kabra, Laurence Marton, Eds. xvii + 466 pp. Humana Press Inc., Crescent Manor, P.O. Box 2148, Clifton, N.J. 07015. 1981. $55
Reviewed by Henri Colin, Ecole Poly technique, Laboratoire de Chimie An alytique Physique, Rte. de Saclay, 91120 Palaiseau Cedex, France This book deals with the rapidly growing field of clinical applications of liquid chromatography. It is specifi cally designed for bioscientists and is divided into three parts. Part I is an introduction to liquid chromatogra phy, Part II is devoted to therapeutic drug monitoring and toxicology, and Part III is concerned with the clinical analysis of endogenous constituents. There are 19 chapters and 466 pages contributed by 33 authors. The theoretical aspects of chroma tography are covered briefly in the first chapter. Although such a concise treatment is, a priori, useful for re searchers who are mainly interested in the practical aspects of HPLC, unfor tunately, several fundamental equa tions that the users should know are not given. For instance, it is regretta ble that the discussion of the parame ters controlling the resolution does not include the well-known equation: Ν = 16 R | (a/a - ψ (1 + k'/k') 2 , showing the very critical role of selec tivity. The discussion of the contribu tions to band-broadening is question able and, for instance, it is not at all certain that resistance to mass trans fer (nonequilibrium or sorption-desorption kinejtacs) is the major source of band-spréading. Moreover, some equations are incorrect. The discussion of instrumentation gives a good idea of the current technology, but it would have been interesting to briefly give some information on such future developments as micro column LC, LC/MS coupling, diode-array-based spectrophotometry detectors, etc. The review of column technology is of high quality. The different chromato-
graphic techniques are well presented, and the basic characteristics of the various modes are clearly pointed out. The importance of the popular reversed-phase mode is justifiably emphasized. It would have been interesting to mention the NARP (nonaqueous reversed-phase) approach and perhaps to give more detailed information on ion-pairing chromatography. As far as Part I is concerned, it is very surprising that there is no chapter dedicated to mobile phases. The role of the solvent is so fundamental in liquid chromatography that it deserves at least one chapter. The lack of this important discussion is one of the most serious shortcomings of this book. The second and third parts of the book leave the reader with a strong feeling of unevenness in the treatment of the topics. The quality of the material varies considerably from chapter to chapter, and the same general information is often repeated in different places. Because of the lack of uniformity, the book is more a collection of individual contributions than a coherent presentation. The usefulness of Chapter 11 is not clear since no new information is given. On the other hand, a chapter on derivatization (in Part I) would have been very informative. This topic, especially important for bioscientists, is only touched upon in different chapters, but it does not receive the comprehensive and general treatment it deserves. One can also regret that the mobile-phase composition is not systematically given for the applications presented. In addition, it is very surprising that in a book written for researchers highly interested in quantitative analysis, such topics as recovery and precision are scarcely discussed. In summary, in spite of its lack of uniformity and the omission of certain important topics, the material contained in this publication will be of interest to bioscientists. In a field evolving as rapidly as liquid chromatogra-
phy, a compilation of the state-of-theart biomedical applications is a helpful starting point for new researchers interested in various aspects of the biosciences. Treatise on Analytical Chemistry. Vol. 7. 2nd ed. Part 1. Philip Elving, Ed. xxvii + 816 pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1981. $65
Reviewed by Robert Pecsok, Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 There should be no need once again to extol the virtues of this remarkable treatise, the competence of its editors and contributors, and the need for all chemists to have ready access to its many volumes. Kolthoff and Elving, with the collaboration of Associate Editor Edward J. Meehan, have done it again. Volume 7 contains eight chapters on optical methods corresponding to similar chapters in Volumes 5 and 6 in the first edition. The remaining topics will presumably appear in Volume 8. Among the deferred topics are UV/ VIS spectrophotometry and Raman spectroscopy, which more logically belong in Volume 7. New developments have resulted in an increase from 560 pages in the first edition to 800 pages for the same topics. And in spite of a larger, easier-to-read typestyle, there are 10% more words per page. All chapters must have been completed simultaneously, most with 1979 and 1980 references. As in the first edition, Chapters 1-3, written by E. J. Meehan, provide a comprehensive introduction to the characteristics of radiant energy and its interaction with matter, and to the fundamentals of spectrophotometry, apparatus, and measurements. Important changes here include new sections on Fourier Transform techniques and derivative, dual wavelength, and difference measurements. Chapter 4 by W. R. Seitz on lumi-
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 54, NO. 1, JANUARY 1982 · 99 A
Books nescence methods has exploded from 22 to 90 pages, much of the increase due to new information on polariza tion phenomena, the relation between luminescence and molecular structure, effects of molecular environment, laser sources, and practical aspects and applications. Phosphorimetry, barely mentioned in the first edition, js now a well-established technique. Chapter 5 by Lee A. Smith, which covers infrared spectroscopy, occupies more than a quarter of the book, and except for the three introductory chapters, is the only one written by the original author. Smith has made an excellent chapter even better with additional material on multiplex tech niques, attenuated total reflectance and special sampling methods includ ing gas chromatographic interfacing. Beginning with Newton's original work in 1672, emission spectroscopy is taken all the way to 1980 by R. D. Sacks in Chapter 6. He has expanded the discussions by about 50% on topics such as the origin of spectra, collisional processes, line width and intensity, sources (spark, plasma jets, lasers, ex ploding wires), and multichannel sys tems.
Flame emission spectroscopy is treated in Chapter 7 by Augusta Sytya. New kinds of flames, burners, and detectors are discussed and combustion mechanisms are brought up-to-date. Flame emission is compared to atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence for accuracy, sensitivity, and applicability. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was not treated in the first edition. Unfor tunately, Chapter 8 by J. W. Robinson is disappointing in several ways. The elementary level of presentation is in appropriate for this treatise. More im portant are a number of factual errors such as: "Upon introduction to the base of the flame, a sample is nebu lized into small drops" (p 735); Kv should be K„ (p 737); α is absorptivity, not absorption (p 738); "the relation ship between absorbance and concen trations is logarithmic rather than lin ear" (p 738); "provided that the wave length is within the UV range O7000A or
