taken the timc and trouble t o put d l of the material toget,her in a coherent fashion. The reaction, basically, the conversion of an olefin, via an organohorane, t.he descriptinn of tho various types of t o an alcohol, promises t o ho nscful for a balances availahlo. wide variety of synthetic applications. The value of this book as a rcfcrcncc The book begins with a n introductory book an inorganic analytical chemistry is survey of the reaction, and then in tho greatly enhanced by an exeollcnt index. following chapters, the history, scope, Methods for thc determination of the mechanism, and applications of the reaevarious element8 and anions arc indexed t,ion t o various types of olefins sro conunder the nnmc of the suhstnnec t o he sidered in detail. The genernus use of determined, and the method uscd is also formulas and equations makes the material given. easy t o understand, and i t is well docuI n the reviewer's opinion t,his bonk could .merited with references to the original well he tho m m t uscful single volume in literature. Comparisnns of thc hydrot h e library of thc analytical chemist. t~oration met,hod with ot,her reactions FRANKJ. WELUF~ER which accomplish the same end arc made Indimn TJniversity throughout. IJnsnlved problems and new Indianapolis areas for research arc frequently mentioned. Them is also considerable discussion of the chemistry of organohoranes and homhvdridrs. Hydroboration
BOOK REVIEWS
Herbert C. Hmwn, Purtlue Univcrsit,~, Laffilyrttr, Indiana. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 1962. xiii 290 pp. Figs. and tahlcs. 16 X 23.5 em. $10.
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This hook is a critical review 01 the recently discovered reaction, hydroborat,ion. Much of the information has appeared previously only in the form of brief communicxtinns t o the editor, and thus is discussrd in detail for the first timc in the book. Since the reaction was discovered, and t o a large degree, exploited, by Professor Brown and his group, i t is pnrticnlarly apprqxintr that he has
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Journal o f Chemical Education
chemist faced with the problem of carrying out the reactions mentioned above. The historical perspective with which this book is written also makes it valuable ior advanced undergraduate and heginning graduate students, since they can readily see how the discovery of a. new reaction (accidental, incidentally) can lead t o a wide variety of new research problems. Professor Brown states that, surprisingly, he enjoyed writing this book, and this reviewer enjoyed reading it, and in fact, read i t through in one sitting. The style is interesting, the chapters are short, and material is repeated where necessary, so t h a t the reader does not have t o refer back t o previous chapters. The book is remarkably free from errors. "Hydroboratian" is recommended t o practicing organic chemists as a good source of information on a n important and useful reaction, and t o students as an interesting example of the way a new area of chemistry can be developed.
HAROLDR.
&CE
Brown C:nivnaitiy
ized t o other organohoranes. The arganotmanes, again usually under mild conditions, can in turn be converted t o alcohols, hydnxarhons, organometallics (such as dislkyl mercury compounds), more cornplcx carbon structures, eyclopropanes, and olefins isomeric wit,h the original one. The yields in general are high, the reaction isstereospecific, and applicable t o %variety of oletins. For these reasons, i t promises t o rank with the handful of widely useful rractions in organic chemistry. Thus this hook will he usrful to every organic
P r o d e n c r , Rhorle Island Methoden der Organirchen Chemie. Band V/3: Halogenverbindungen: Fluorverbindungen und Chlorverbindungen. Edited b,v Engen ~ l l ~ l l c r4th . edition. Georg Thierne Verlng, Stuttgert, 196'2. lxiv 1217 pp. Figs. and tshlrs. 18.5 X 26cm. 262 DM.
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Daniel Boom, the great frontiersman, was once asked if he had ever been lost.
