ftwm petroleum or natural gas hyrllw carbons and intended for chemical markets." This book is a little narrower tlran that I t does not include such very simplr derivatives sa hydrogen, sulfur, carbon lhlack, emban dioxide, and carbon disc& fide (but does cover ammonia). In the rlireetion of complexity, it ignores mixtures lhet are markptpd as mrh-slkanc i~.xrtions used as solvents, naphthenir. nrids, the products of chlorinnting nnd sulfonnting the higher alkanes, ;and o l course fuels and lid,~.iemts. But hetwem them extreme8 it deals expertly and romprehensivdy with the varidy of industrially important compounds nnrl I".OCCSS~~ b a e d on petroleum and natural pas. Sueeessive chapters out,line tlw yep par at ions and reactions of paraffins, olefins, diolcfins, acetylene, napht,hmes, nrenes, epoxides, deohols, ethers, r;wl,onyl rompounds, acids and their derivatives, and smines. In a field aR fasbmoving sa this it i~ not always possihle to tell exactly what Ilroeess is currentlv in use. The ardhartherefore has outlined gencral prinriplc~ and many illnstrative patents. Ahout half of the 575 references cited we patents. I t is difficult to find any classical or recent development that is not trrated in this book, and treated excellently. Lite~.ntiwe coverage appears complete up t o rarly 1956. Thc author's own beckground and interests are s h o r n in unusually f d diseussionp of rhlorination, ~litrntion, and fluorination; hero 8s in "the]. places he has eleetcd t o proiient some ~.cnctionsfor their potential rather t h n their present importance. The app~.onnh is almost entirely preparative rathe]. t.h:un theorctiesl. The reviewer missed disrussions of wee, m~thanethiol. 2-l~ydmxy methyl-2-methyl-l,3-pr,rapanediol (tximethylalethane), and slkylnted phcnols. Some miaspelled names of products and Iproaesses (Arosorh, Acrilan, Emulphor, Girbotol) and of authors escaped the prodrcader's cye. Them is also a tmdenry to ignore thc nomenclatural rule nhor~t non~cparationof such word? as rneth+ mine and ethylhensenc. Thrse are only minor flaws in a very wadable and well-organized ~xes~ntatiart. The book is highly reeommmdrd. 0.C. DERXIER OKGAXOXA A . A N D M. COLLEGE STILLX*TER.
OKLAHOMA
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. VOL. 11: STEREOCHEMISTRY AND THE CHEMISTRY OF NATURAL PRODUCTS
I. L. Finor, Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, Northern Polytechnic, Holloway, London. Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1956. x 733 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 22 cm. $8.50.
+
THE excellent volume begine with a
brief chapter on Physical Propwties and Chemical
Constitution. The text is two main pwts. Stwcomomensm has them chapter titlm: Optiral
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Isomerism; Walden Inversion; Geometrical Isomelkn; Stereochemistry of Diphen>-l Compounds; Steriachemistry of Elements Other than Carbon. The chapters treating the chemistry of natural product^ are: Carbohydrates; Terpenes; Cwotenoids; Polyeyclic Aromatic Compounds; Steroids; Heterocyclic Compounds Containing Two or More HeteroAtoms; Amino Acids and Proteins; Alkaloids; Anthocyanins; Purinesand Nucleie Acids; Vitamins; Chemotherapy; Haemoslobin, Chlorophyl and Phthalocyanines. Each chapter is concise, thoroughly up-to-date and concludes with a brief hut. stimulating list of references. An index of authors and an index of subjects, with name reactions ineloded in the latter, are provided. The wealth of material compacted in this volume would be suitable for an xdvanced undergraduate semaster cotme in organic chemistry or, with suplllementary reference materials, for a semester graduate course. Only a few highlights of the topics can be cited. Dipole moments, solubility and X-ray analysis, the refrachor, and neutron diffmction patterns are dealt with. The uee of three-dimensional models for optical isomers, and their planar repnsentntions, are given pl.ecisely. The terms (+) and (-), dextro and levo, D 2nd L w e all employed with clarity. Especially noteworthy is the hest evidence for configrwations of a- and @anomera, and the proofs of structures znd
VOLUME
34.
NO. 8, AUGUST, 1951
configurations of carbohydrates, not only from traditional information but also by modern X-ray and oxidative methods. I n developing material in the second section, the author takes pains to select important proofs of strwtnre, synthesis, and mechanisms of reactions. There are errors and omissions, but these me relatively unimportant. In describing the Vagner-Meerwein rearrangement, an Ilnfort:lnate error refers to an intermdiate iwhanion rather than a curhonium ion. The "roneelted action" idea would be useful iu connection with the h~~omonitm ion intennrdiate and with the mechanism for the Beckmnnn rean'sngemwt. Too frequently the author infers or states t,hat a compound is found in several sources, without giving even one source. I t is iut,eresting to find the structure for the antihiotie, m,ycamycin, ne the only known natural allene, with optical activity. The mechanism of stsreospeeifieity in dehydration of ally1 alcohols to d l e n e ~might he supgested. Some errors in nomenrlature occur. A reference to Selaood's hook on "Magnetochemistry" should be cited in connection with the topic of magnetic suseeptibilities. Certainly ~ r f ~ r e n cshould r be made to Jack Hinds "Physical Organic Chemistry." Kevertheless, the zothor hap guided a scnsible course through the prolific array of infolmntion with remwkable continuity. .JOHN LEO ABERNETHY Fn-sw STATECO~,LEOE F n ~ s s oC , ~~zronnm
(Continued on page A$&)
