REVIEWS .-
we find a new compound "dinitrogen trichloride" in an exercise on p. 129. Similarly, how many professional chemists can emrectly predict the decomposition products of Cu(C10h and AI(CIOJ)~?The wrong products (HNOB and Hz01 instead of the correct NI and Hz0 are given for the reaction between N2H1 and HZOZon P. 155. Although these may seem like "picky" criticisms, they would serve to start off the course on weak footing. Chemists who teach the course for which this text 1s intended are constantly lookmg for an improved text. This is another which shuuld he taken under advisement. Wayne C. Wolsey Macslester College St. Paul. MN 55105
Intermediate Organlc Chemistry John C. StoweM. Wlley: New York, NY. 1988. xv 268 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.7 X 23.6 cm. $34.95.
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Theexemplary andchallenging aim of lntarmediate Organic Chemistry is to bridge the gap between the completion of the firstyear sophomore organic chemistry and the world of the practicing organic chemist. Selection of material is identifi~das the key feature to accomplish this formidable task in 264 naees. ,. The resultine 10 chanters renresent varying levels of fulfilling the ohjertives within the confines. For some selections the choices are near optimum whereas for others, the treatment may he too fragmentary or the choices not adequately focused. Overall the book is a t its best when it addresses large focuses and its weakest when it goes into detail. The initial chanter is an excellent h t r o duction to the use of nomenclature in the current liwrature and there are good problems On theother hand, the following chapter on literature is far looser and economically useful choices are less obvious. Four of 15 pages are devoted to computer searching with sample printouts. However, the treatment does not serve for actual use, so that selection is current and visually appealing hut less than optimum. The stereochemistry chapter has a good range but lacks the inclusion of rigorous definitions, such as those described in Mislow, K.; Siegel, J. J. Am. Chern. Soc. 1984, 106, 3319. Nevertheless, the problems and many of the references are very good. The synthesis of Functional groups in 31 oaees is anontrivial task. and the author has EoGred much ground. +he treatment doer not have sufficient reliance on organization and tablesandlor charts. Equally importnnt emphasis on pervasive strategies is lacking. Similarly in Chapter 5 an carbon-carbon bond formation a greater reliance on charts would strengthen the overview and avoid the instances of thin coverage.
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A48
Journal of Chemical Education
Chapter six on planning multistep ryn. theser is the best in the hook and one of the heat trentment of this kind of material I have seen. Excellent choices are presented to illustrate the principles of disconnecting. In each case these are followed by actual experimental methods used (with yields) to bring together the theory and experiments. Chapter seven an mechanisms and predictions succeeds better in the broadbrush than it does a t details. For example, many methods have provided direct observation of intermediates and mechanisms need not he hypothetical. Similarly, thereare far better ways to establish reaction order than the integrated form of the rate equations. The discussion of representative mechanisms is a valuable overview of t h e important schemes with mod examnles. Chapter 8 on Electron I)elocaliation, Aromatic Character and Concerted Reactions does a far hetter job on concerted reactions t h s n m the introductory material. A deeper understandma of h a w molecular orbital theory would be preferred to the condensed review. Chapter 9 on the Physical Influences on Reactions is an interesting idea and couches things in a valuable framework for the student. Chapter 10 on NMR spectroscopy has some problems with choice of material. One could wish far Less simulated patterns although the two-dimensional plots are useful and clearly focused. There are ohvious errors relating coupling constants to field strength, the position of the magnetization after the pulse and the NOE effect. There is no author index; there are three references to material published after 1985 and in the synthesis chapters 28 of 218 references are for 1985. Not surprisingly given the limitations some interpretations or conclusions are presented without the balance of differing points of view. While some of these omissions mav bother narticular instructors (or workers not referred to) they do not seriously detract from the presentation. Shelton Bank State Unlverslty of New Yo* at Albany Albany. NY 12210
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instrumental Methods of Analysis, Seventh Edition Hobarr H. Willard, Lynne L. Merrln, Jr.. John A. Dean, and Frank A. Senle, Jr., Wadsworth: Belmont. CA. 1988. Figs. and tables. 19.3 X 24.7 cm. Compared with the sixth edition (reviewed 1984.61, A222), the seventh edition has five fewer chapters. Chapter 1,entitled "An Introduction to Instrumental Methods", is new. I t eonsista of six short sections which review the Analvtical Method.,~the role of inslrumentation, criteria for evaluating instrumental methods, and the primary literature sources for analytical methoddogy and instrumentation. I t is supplemented by Appendix A, in which the common techniques of analytical chemistry are contrasted with respect to principal applications, ~
qualitative and quantitative analysis capabilities, sample size, method limitations, and sample limitations. The addition of this chapter and its supplement are very appropriate; laboratory instructors who depend heavily on the lecture textbook to supplement laboratom texts will narticularlv, anpreciate this addition. Hy contrast, the experiments have been replaced with e rhmt hihli#rgraphy (Appendix R) oi sources. This modification is also appropriate, because the experiments possessed insufficient details to "stand alone" as a laboratory manual. Reduction in the number of chapters has been achieved by eliminating some topics and reducing others to the size of sections, which are then incorporated into an appropriate global category. "Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy" and "Refrsctometry and Interferometry; Polarimetry, Circular Dichroism, and Optical Rotatory Dispersion" have been eliminated. "Chemical Analysis of Surfaces", which covered ISS, SIMS, AES, and ESCA, appears as two sections of the chapter on X-Ray Methods (AES, ESCA) and a section of the chapter on Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). ISS, ion scattering spectroscopy, has been eliminated. Two sections of the chapter previously entitled "Potentiometric Titrations" have been retained. The section on classification of indicator electrodes now appears in Chapter ;ll,"lntrodurtion toElectroanalytiral Methodsot Analvsis".. while that im the location of the equivalence point now appears in Chapter 22, "Potentiometry" Electrogravimetry, coulometry, and conductance methods have been consolidated into one chapter entitled "Electroseparations, Coulometry, end Conductance Methods". Similarly, the two electronics chapters have been consolidated into a chapter entitled "Electronics: Fundamentals and Applications of Solid State Devices". As before, the chapters can be grouped into six broad categories as follows: General (Chapter 1and 2), Computers andElectronics (Chapters 3 and 4), Spectroscopic and Spectrometric Techniques (Chapters 5-13, 15-16), Chromatography (Chapters 17-20), Electroanalytical Methods (Chapters 21241, and Miscellaneous (Chapters 14, 2526). The order in which the material is presented is more logical than that used in the sixth edition, although a further improvement might have been to follow electronics with electroanalytieal methods. As one might expect, the greatest amount of new material has been added to the Spectrosconv and Snectrometrv cateeorv. New teeh&uer d;aeussed include photoacoustrr spectroscopy, thermal lens spertrmcopy, flow injertionanalprs, fluorescence lifetime measurements, room temperature phosphorescence, ICP atomic fluorescence, coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, prompt gamma-ray analysis, two-dimensional FTNMR, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, plasma and laser desorption mass spectrometry, FT-MS, FT-ICR, tandem mass spectrometry and ICP-mass spectrometry. In addition, the sections on FTIR, Raman theory, physical processes in X-ray methods, and relaxation processes in NMR have all been significantly upgraded. In addition to Chapter 1, a section on chemometrics is new material in the General category.
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