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Organic Electrochemistry: Fourth Edition, Edited by H. Lund and O. Hammerich, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2001. ISBN 0-8247-0430-4, vii + 1393 pp.; US$275.00
Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 502 (2001) 204 www.elsevier.nl/locate/jelechem
Book Review Organic Electrochemistry: Fourth Edition, Edited by H. Lund and O. Hammerich, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2001. ISBN 0-8247-0430-4, vii + 1393 pp.; US$275.00 Since Manuel Baizer fathered the first edition in 1973, Organic Electrochemistry has been a constant companion to all those interested in the electrode reactions of organic molecules. It has served as a unique source of information and a rapid introduction to the literature. The new fourth edition is a 32 chapter, 1400 page tome, fully revised and updated (although in many chapters there is a dearth of references to the late 1990s). Essentially, the new edition maintains the structure of earlier ones. Five introductory chapters cover in some depth (292 pages) basic concepts, electrochemical techniques for the elucidation of mechanism and kinetics, changes in chemistry with experimental conditions (e.g. the timescale of the reaction), comparison between electrode reactions and homogeneous redox reactions and advice on setting up experiments. Following chapters cover electrode reactions classified by functional group, types of reaction or products and topics as diverse as stereochemistry in electrode reactions, mediated reactions, electrogenerated bases, conducting polymers and industrial applications. There are two completely new chapters covering the electrode reactions of C60 and related molecules and enzyme mediated electrosynthesis. One aspect surprisingly absent is the complete oxidation of organic molecules to carbon dioxide, reactions of topical interest for the reduction of chemical oxygen demand in effluents and contaminated waters (also for fuel cells). Generally, the chapters are of a high standard and the Editors have achieved a surprising uniformity of approach for a multi-author text. The treatment is always thorough with many useful tables and extensive citation of the literature (on average 220 references/chapter). Moreover, all chap-
ters are written by authors with a track record of contributing significantly to their fields. I welcome the new addition wholeheartedly. It will continue to be of great assistance to students and others who seek to understand the complexities of organic electrode reactions. It is also excellent for non-electrochemists who know the information that they are seeking. On the other hand, I believe it will continue to fail in its other objective of marketing organic electrochemistry to other chemists. In common with the field itself, the book is handicapped by a diversity of objectives. Adherents of organic electrochemistry may, for example, be interested primarily in the mechanism and kinetic of reactions, the analysis of organic molecules, laboratory synthesis or industrial scale manufacture of organic compounds; the type of experiments, the concentration of reactants and, most importantly, the goals will be quite different according to the interest. I believe therefore that it does an injustice to the literature and is a frustration to non-electrochemists not to distinguish these activities. Organic Electrochemistry seeks to cover all aspects and the work with different goals is insufficiently distinguished. Hence, it fails to address any one interest with sufficient focus. I know that I will continue to recommend shorter more focused texts for general reading about organic electrochemistry. Even so, although the audience for this book may be much smaller than wished by the Editors, its value to those committed to organic electrochemistry remains high. 24 January 2001
.
0022-0728/01/$ - see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 2 2 - 0 7 2 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 3 6 6 - 7
Derek Pletcher Department of Chemistry, The Uni6ersity of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Book Review Organic Electrochemistry: Fourth Edition, Edited by H. Lund and O. Hammerich, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2001. ISBN 0-8247-0430-4, vii + 1393 pp.; US$275.00 Since Manuel Baizer fathered the first edition in 1973, Organic Electrochemistry has been a constant companion to all those interested in the electrode reactions of organic molecules. It has served as a unique source of information and a rapid introduction to the literature. The new fourth edition is a 32 chapter, 1400 page tome, fully revised and updated (although in many chapters there is a dearth of references to the late 1990s). Essentially, the new edition maintains the structure of earlier ones. Five introductory chapters cover in some depth (292 pages) basic concepts, electrochemical techniques for the elucidation of mechanism and kinetics, changes in chemistry with experimental conditions (e.g. the timescale of the reaction), comparison between electrode reactions and homogeneous redox reactions and advice on setting up experiments. Following chapters cover electrode reactions classified by functional group, types of reaction or products and topics as diverse as stereochemistry in electrode reactions, mediated reactions, electrogenerated bases, conducting polymers and industrial applications. There are two completely new chapters covering the electrode reactions of C60 and related molecules and enzyme mediated electrosynthesis. One aspect surprisingly absent is the complete oxidation of organic molecules to carbon dioxide, reactions of topical interest for the reduction of chemical oxygen demand in effluents and contaminated waters (also for fuel cells). Generally, the chapters are of a high standard and the Editors have achieved a surprising uniformity of approach for a multi-author text. The treatment is always thorough with many useful tables and extensive citation of the literature (on average 220 references/chapter). Moreover, all chap-
ters are written by authors with a track record of contributing significantly to their fields. I welcome the new addition wholeheartedly. It will continue to be of great assistance to students and others who seek to understand the complexities of organic electrode reactions. It is also excellent for non-electrochemists who know the information that they are seeking. On the other hand, I believe it will continue to fail in its other objective of marketing organic electrochemistry to other chemists. In common with the field itself, the book is handicapped by a diversity of objectives. Adherents of organic electrochemistry may, for example, be interested primarily in the mechanism and kinetic of reactions, the analysis of organic molecules, laboratory synthesis or industrial scale manufacture of organic compounds; the type of experiments, the concentration of reactants and, most importantly, the goals will be quite different according to the interest. I believe therefore that it does an injustice to the literature and is a frustration to non-electrochemists not to distinguish these activities. Organic Electrochemistry seeks to cover all aspects and the work with different goals is insufficiently distinguished. Hence, it fails to address any one interest with sufficient focus. I know that I will continue to recommend shorter more focused texts for general reading about organic electrochemistry. Even so, although the audience for this book may be much smaller than wished by the Editors, its value to those committed to organic electrochemistry remains high. 24 January 2001
.
0022-0728/01/$ - see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 2 2 - 0 7 2 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 3 6 6 - 7
Derek Pletcher Department of Chemistry, The Uni6ersity of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK