book reviews as an excellent introduction of the student
topics so that the reader is not overwhelmed by the number of pages he must read. LA VERNESCHIRCH Blu$%on College B l u f t a , Ohio 45817
of chemistry to the field of spectroscopy. JAMES R. BAR RANT^, Southern Connecticut Slate College New Haven, Connecticut 06616
Ionizing Solvents Progress in Bioorganic Chemistry. Vol. I
Edited by E. T. Kaiser and F. J . Kezdg, both of University of Chicago. WileyInterscience, New York, 1971. ix 369 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.5 X 16 cm. $14.95.
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The intent of this new series is to present in-depth treatment of topics in bioorganic chemistry. This field is concerned with explaining biological reactions in terms of organic reaction mechanisms. Several one- snd two-volume hooks have been published in the last few years whieh deal with bioorganic chemistry hut this is a rapidly expanding field and there is a continuing need for up-dating the discussion. The first volume of this series contains three articles: Intrnmoleeulzr Cstalvsis.
siderahle research experience in the snbject he is covering. The intent of the editoa is t o publish an additional volume every one or two years. For the advanced undergraduate stndent and the college professor this new series can serve as an important aid in the educational process. The authors of volume one have not tried to survey all of the research in their topic hut have chosen rather to give in-depth analysis of some of the current problems. The problems they have chosen reflect t o some extent their own prtrtieulxr research interests. The a~tt,horsgive rather extensive introdnetory remarks whieh should prove very helpful to students who have studied only from textbooks in which thematerial has b8en organized around a different set of topics. This volume will he valuable t o those teachers who use actual experimental data. to illustrate the principles of organic chemistry and biochemistry. Two of the authors have included a. great deal of experimental data in their articles with explanations of how this data has been used to favor one of several possible mechanisms. Each article also contains a great many diagrams of proposed mechanisms for both nonenzymic and enzymic reactions. The articles have an extensive reference list with some of the references cited being less than a year old when the book was published. This reviewer sees this new series as being of importance to the undergraduate college libraly. The trend in education is to bridge the gap between departments. Bioorgmio chemistry is a field that helps bridge the gap between chemistry and m o l e c d a biology. This new series has the advantage over the one- and twovoltune texts in this field in t h a t the mater i d can be continually up-dated. Also, the material can be presented in small enough
A314
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Journal o f Chemical Education
J . Jander and C . Lajrm. Chemical Topics for Students, Vol. 3, edited by Wilhelm Foerst and Helmut Gnmewald. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., New Yark, 202 pp. Figs. and tables. 1970. xii 14.5 X 21 cm. Softbound, 58.50.
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The authors state in the Preface that "this book is intended mainly as a short textbook for advanced students. Based on lectures, it will try to provide an introduction to chemistry in water-like ionizing solvents, a field that is not treated in a coherent manner in the existing textbooks. However, i t also has the aim of stimulating the further study of this field." In order to satisfy the above aims and objectives one would expect in the first place a thorough discussion of the main characteristics of Ionizing Solvents, which is the title of the book. An effort is made in Chapter 1, General Notes on Water and Water-Like Solvents. At the hattom of p. 1 we read, "Of d l the nonaqueous solvents, only the water-like or ionizing solvents will be dealt with." The following 5 chapters and the last 3 chapters describe properties of, and reactions in, ammonia, hydrogen fluoride and the higher hydrogen halides, sulfuric acid and fl~lorosulfuricseid, acetio acid, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide, halogen and interhalogen compounds, and a "survey of other ionizing solvents." The last chapter gives in 10 pages properties of and rehctions in a host of organic solvents. Few teachers would characterize d l the solvents listed in the hook a5 "water-like" (e.g., SOr; p. 1 ) or ionizing. The general theoretical treatment is very incomplete and confusing; far instance, water (and the other solvents) have the "possibility of amphoterio behavior" (p. 1); "another reaction well known in the aqueous system is the formation of salts by neutralization of acids with a base" (p. 6); on p. 5, lines 16 and 18 apparently are missing. After the general introduction in Chapter 1 we find in Chapter 7 a treatment of Acid-Base Concepts and their Usefulness as a Classifying Principle in the Chemistry of NonAqueous Ionizing Solvents with subdivisions, The Solvent Theory, The Electronic Theory; Hard and Soft Acids and Bases, The Ionatropic Theory, and The Coordination Model. No quant,itative treatment is found in the book; maybe this is explained by the first sentence in the Editor's Preface: "Modern chemistry can no laneer be taueht and studied s i m ~ l v
mend the monograph for courses covering characteristics of nonaqueous solvents, it presents quite a hit of valuable factual information (physical properties, various types of reactions). Also helpful are the (Continued on page A317)
