ACCOUNTS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH © Copyright, 1982, by the American Chemical Society. Permission of the American Chemical Society is granted for libraries and other users to make reprographic copies for use beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law, provided that the copying organization pay the appropriate per-copy fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 21 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970. For reprint permission, please write to the Copyright Administrator, Books and Journals Division, at the ACS Washington address. Published monthly by the American Chemical Society at 20th and Northampton Sts., Easton, PA 18042. Second-class postage paid at Washington, DC, and at additional mailing offices. Editorial Information Accounts of Chemical Research publishes concise, critical reviews of research areas currently under active investigation. Most articles are written by scientists active in the area reviewed. Reviews may be concerned in large part with work in the author's own laboratory, providing that relevant contributions by other investigators are mentioned sufficiently to place the author's research in perspective. Also published are occasional articles in which the author offers a critical assessment of a subject that has become somewhat muddled or even controversial, and proposes unifying concepts to clarify it. Articles should be directed concurrently to a general audience of research-minded chemists and to scientists directly concerned with the subject of the article. In general, the first four or five pages of the manuscript should be directed mainly to the general reader, providing background and
American Chemical Society 1155 16th St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 872-4600
orientation as well as discussion of specialized terms or concepts. Because of the limited amount of journal space available, the usual allotment per article is 6 journal pages, corresponding roughly to a total of 25 pages of manuscript, including tables, bibliography, and drawings. Many articles are solicited by the Editor. Others are submitted on encouragement by the Editor after inquiry by a prospective author. Manuscripts submitted without prior consultation are also considered. All manuscripts are sent for review to competent reviewers, as part of the editorial process. Accourais of Chemical Research also publishes some correspondence from readers concerning the general theme of chemical research, or concerning the content of this journal. However, letters communicating new research results are not accepted for publication. The acceptance of letters is subject to standard constraints such as moderate length, good taste, and avoidance of redundancy. Manuscripts for publication and editorial correspondence prior to acceptance of manuscripts for publication should be sent to Joseph F. Bunnett, Editor, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the general instructions given in "Handbook for Authors of Papers in American Chemical Society Publications" (available from Distribution Office at the ACS Washington address). They should be typed double spaced, submitted in quadruplicate, and accompanied by a completed copyright transfer form (see January issue). Additions and Corrections are published in the December issue. Correspondence regarding accepted papers and proofs should be directed to the Journals Department at the address shown below. Bulk reprints or photocopies of individual articles are available. For information write to Distribution Office at the ACS Washington address.
Journals Department American Chemical Society P.O. Box 3330 Columbus, Ohio 43210 (614) 421-3665 or (614) 421-6940, Ext. 3171 TELEX 6842086
Subscription and B u s i n e s s Information 1982 subscription prices, printed or microfiche, including postage. Microfiche by air mail; printed by surface mail. Printed edition air mail or air freight rates available from Membership & Subscription Services, at the address shown below. For membership information, contact Office of Membership Development at the ACS Washington address. Member Nonmember
U.S. $16.00 64.00
Foreign $20.00 68.00
New and renewal subscriptions must be sent with payment to the Office of the Treasurer, Financial Operations, at the ACS Washington address. Subscriptions are available only on a calendar year basis. Printed edition single issue prices: current year $6.00; prior year $7.75. Back volume price: $85.00. Foreign postage additional. Mail orders should be sent to Distribution Office at the ACS Washington address. Phone orders can be placed for printed, microfiche, and microfilm editions by calling the Books and Journals Division Sales Office toll free at (800) 424-6747 from anywhere in the continental United States; Washington, DC, area call (202) 8728065. Phone orders can be charged to Visa or MasterCard accounts. Changes of address must include both old and new addresses with ZIP code and a recent mailing label. Send all address changes to Membership & Subscription Services.. Please allow six weeks for change to become effective. Claims for missing numbers will not be allowed if loss was due to failure of notice of change of address to be received in the time specified; if claim is dated (a) North America: more than 90 days beyond issue date, (b) all other foreign: more than one year beyond issue date; or if the reason given is "missing from files". Hard copy claims are handled by Membership & Subscription Services.
Membership & Subscription Services American Chemical Society P.O. Box 3337 Columbus, Ohio 43210 (614) 421-3776
®
ACCOUNTS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Copyright 1982 by the American Chemical Society
V O L U M E 15 EDITOR JOSEPH F. BUNNETT ASSOCIATE EDITORS Joel E. Keizer John E. McMurry EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Fred Basolo R. Stephen Berry Michel Boudart Maurice M. Bursey Edward A. Collins John T. Gerig Jenny P. Gleusher Kendall N. Houk Jay K. Kochi Maurice M. Kreevoy Theodore Kuwana Ronald N. McElhaney Eva L. Menger Kurt Mislow John C. Polanyi Alexander Rich Anthony M. Trozzolo Gene G. Wubbels
Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 BOOKS AND JOURNALS DIVISION D. H. Michael Bowen, Director Journals Department: Charles R. Bertsch, Head; Marianne C. Brogan, Associate Head; Mary E. Scanlan, Assistant Manager Marketing and Sales Department: Claud K. Robinson, Head Production Department: Elmer M. Pusey, Jr., Head Research and Development Department: Seldon W. Terrant, Head The American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors. Views expressed in the editorials are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the official position of the American Chemical Society.
NUMBER
1
JANUARY,
About Accounts of Chemical
1982
Research
With this issue, Accounts of Chemical Research commences its fifteenth year. Since the beginning, Accounts has been a journal with a special mission. A scientist today cannot keep up with current developments by reading the primary journal literature. It is not a question of how conscientious he is in his reading. The volume of publication is just too great. Accordingly we must all rely extensively on secondary literature: review articles, monographs, and the like. However, there are some problems with comprehensive reviews or books. Some of the most creative senior scientists cannot find time to write them. Also, they are sometimes more than the reader wants. Accounts seeks to serve the chemist reader by providing short, readable reviews of recent research developments written by the scientists chiefly responsible for them. In such an Account, the author brings together in one short paper the salient features of work that may have appeared in a dozen primary research reports in various journals over several years. Whereas getting a balanced picture of the work from the original papers may take half a day of study, from an Account it can be obtained in less than an hour. Accounts also welcomes articles in which the author offers a critical assessment of a subject that has become somewhat muddled or even controversial, and proposes unifying concepts to clarify it. The function of Accounts can be viewed in another way. Chemical scientists have needs for information from the literature, some of which are identified, but others unidentified. The identified needs are for data or information about developments, past or current, that are obviously relevant to the chemist's scientific interests. Vast literature services cater to these identified needs. But the unidentified needs, to learn of unsuspected new principles, techniques, or reactions, cannot be satisfied by such services. Imagine a hydrocarbon analyst in 1956 who faithfully kept abreast of developments in fractional distillation and infrared, but who had never heard of gas chromatography or NMR! Hopefully Accounts, had it existed then, would have carried articles on the latter two methods. Accounts solicits many of the manuscripts that we publish. We also receive a good many inquiries from chemists seeking a preliminary opinion as to whether we would be interested in an Account on a specified topic. After studying such a proposal and seeking advice as appropriate, we often (but not always) encourage the proposal. We also receive a fair number of manuscripts that come over the transom, that is, without any prior notice or contact. Through the years the proportion of published articles that were solicited has gradually declined. The increase especially in the representation of "encouraged" articles is regarded as healthy. Who is likely to know better than the chief investigator of a topic when it has developed to the point where the writing of an Account is appropriate? In recent years, about 55% of published articles were solicited, about 30% "encouraged", and about 15% came over the transom. Starting with this issue, Accounts will publish occasional editorials concerned in some way with chemical research. We will also publish some correspondence from readers concerning the general theme of chemical research, or concerning the content of this journal. However, we will not publish communications of research results, for that function is already served by other American Chemical Society journals. Joseph F. Bunnett
