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A.J. Barnes and W.J. Orville-Thomas (eds.), Vibrational spectroscopy — modern trends
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M. R. F. Ashworth, TheDetermination of Sulphur-Containing Groups, Vol. 3, Academic Press, London and New York, 1977, xi + 220 pp., price g11.00, $21.50. This is the third volume in a series dealing with the analysis of organic sulphur compounds and it is concerned largely with analytical methods for compounds containing sulphide (-S-) or disulphide (-S-S-) groups attached to carbon atoms which are otherwise linked only to hydrogen or to other carbon atoms. Heterocyclic compounds that fall into these categories are, however, specifically excluded except for the more important
thiophenes and biotin. -4s in the previous volumes of this series the author has aimed to give a comprehensive review of the available methods without experimental details, but with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each method and with references to the original literature. The methods described fall mainly into three categories - chemical, spectroscopic, and chromatographic; other methods such as polarogmphy, catalysis (of the iodine-azide reaction) and microbiological methods are also mentioned. The large number of subheadings in each chapter make for easy reference, as do the comprehensive subject and author indexes. The book is well produced and seems likely to become a standard source of information for those concerned with the analysis of sulphur compounds. D. Leaver
A. J. Barnes and W_ J. Orville-Thomas (Eds.), Vibrational Spectroscopy Modern Trends, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1977, xii + 442 pp_, price Dfl. 122, $49.95. This is a terrible tragedy. At the price of around $28, and for cameraready typed copy, who can afford to purchase personal copies? Certainly not ,&udents, and yet this is the best text for students to appear for some time, as well as a text that will assist established spectroscopists to get up-todate in the most efficient way possible_ After a briefintroduction by (the late) Harry Hallam, the book is divided into 4 main sections, e.g. Lasers and their Applications, Experimental Methods, Theoretical Methods, and Applications to Problems in Molecular Structure; each of these is subdivided to give a total of 26 chapters, each of around 15 pages. By selecting recognized authorities to write accounts of a wide range of current topics, and by setting a tight limit on the length of each contribution, the editors of the book have devised a successful way of producing a most readable and useful, balanced, concise, critical, and up-to-date text-book. The printing is bold and clear, mathematical
409
and other formulae are well set-out, the diagrams are excellent, and the author and subject indexes are comprehensive. Only two trivial misprints were noticed. The standard of treatment is uniformly high, and it would be invidious to select any of the contributions for particular praise. The number of chapters is too large for details to be given of them all; the following selection is given solely to indicate the range of topics and the international status of the contributors. Principles of Lasers; Tuneable Infrared Lasers (both by J. J. Turner); Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (A. J. Barnes); Matrix Isolation (A. J. Barnes and H. E. Hallam); Highly Reactive and Unstable Species (G. C. Pimentel); High Temperature Species (I. R. Beattie); Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (R. J. H. Clark); Band Contour Analysis (W. H. Fletcher); Limitations of Force Constant Calculations (G. Zerbi); Barriers to Internal Rotation around Single Bonds (J. R. Durig); Transition Metal Co-ordination Compounds and their Analysis (A. Miiller). Most of the chapters present a short, well-chosen list of literature references. A splendid book, therefore, for students, teachers, and spectroscopists. D. &I. W. Anderson
Albert0 Frigerio and Emilio L. Ghisalberti (Eds.), Mass Spectrometry in fiZetabolism, Plenum Press, New York and London, 1977, xii f 532 pp., price $51.
Drug
This expensive book presents the texts of most of the papers presented at the International Symposium on Mass Spectrometry in Drug Metabolism held in Milan in June 1976. Camera-ready typed copy has been used; the quality of the figures and formulae are satisfactory except where the direct reproduction of some computer print-out and other pre-set tabular data are concerned. The 32 papers are presented in the following sections: Identification of D-rugs and Drug Metabolites; Quantitation of Drugs and Metabolites; Intermediates in the Metabolism of Drugs; Stable Isotope Labelling; Drug Abuse; and Developments in Methodology, the four papers in which constitute the main interest for analytical chemists, although several of the other papers contain interesting details of applications of g-c.-m.s., chemical ionisation m.s. etc.
M. R. F. Ashworth, TheDetermination of Sulphur-Containing Groups, Vol. 3, Academic Press, London and New York, 1977, xi + 220 pp., price g11.00, $21.50. This is the third volume in a series dealing with the analysis of organic sulphur compounds and it is concerned largely with analytical methods for compounds containing sulphide (-S-) or disulphide (-S-S-) groups attached to carbon atoms which are otherwise linked only to hydrogen or to other carbon atoms. Heterocyclic compounds that fall into these categories are, however, specifically excluded except for the more important
thiophenes and biotin. -4s in the previous volumes of this series the author has aimed to give a comprehensive review of the available methods without experimental details, but with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each method and with references to the original literature. The methods described fall mainly into three categories - chemical, spectroscopic, and chromatographic; other methods such as polarogmphy, catalysis (of the iodine-azide reaction) and microbiological methods are also mentioned. The large number of subheadings in each chapter make for easy reference, as do the comprehensive subject and author indexes. The book is well produced and seems likely to become a standard source of information for those concerned with the analysis of sulphur compounds. D. Leaver
A. J. Barnes and W_ J. Orville-Thomas (Eds.), Vibrational Spectroscopy Modern Trends, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1977, xii + 442 pp_, price Dfl. 122, $49.95. This is a terrible tragedy. At the price of around $28, and for cameraready typed copy, who can afford to purchase personal copies? Certainly not ,&udents, and yet this is the best text for students to appear for some time, as well as a text that will assist established spectroscopists to get up-todate in the most efficient way possible_ After a briefintroduction by (the late) Harry Hallam, the book is divided into 4 main sections, e.g. Lasers and their Applications, Experimental Methods, Theoretical Methods, and Applications to Problems in Molecular Structure; each of these is subdivided to give a total of 26 chapters, each of around 15 pages. By selecting recognized authorities to write accounts of a wide range of current topics, and by setting a tight limit on the length of each contribution, the editors of the book have devised a successful way of producing a most readable and useful, balanced, concise, critical, and up-to-date text-book. The printing is bold and clear, mathematical
409
and other formulae are well set-out, the diagrams are excellent, and the author and subject indexes are comprehensive. Only two trivial misprints were noticed. The standard of treatment is uniformly high, and it would be invidious to select any of the contributions for particular praise. The number of chapters is too large for details to be given of them all; the following selection is given solely to indicate the range of topics and the international status of the contributors. Principles of Lasers; Tuneable Infrared Lasers (both by J. J. Turner); Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (A. J. Barnes); Matrix Isolation (A. J. Barnes and H. E. Hallam); Highly Reactive and Unstable Species (G. C. Pimentel); High Temperature Species (I. R. Beattie); Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (R. J. H. Clark); Band Contour Analysis (W. H. Fletcher); Limitations of Force Constant Calculations (G. Zerbi); Barriers to Internal Rotation around Single Bonds (J. R. Durig); Transition Metal Co-ordination Compounds and their Analysis (A. Miiller). Most of the chapters present a short, well-chosen list of literature references. A splendid book, therefore, for students, teachers, and spectroscopists. D. &I. W. Anderson
Albert0 Frigerio and Emilio L. Ghisalberti (Eds.), Mass Spectrometry in fiZetabolism, Plenum Press, New York and London, 1977, xii f 532 pp., price $51.
Drug
This expensive book presents the texts of most of the papers presented at the International Symposium on Mass Spectrometry in Drug Metabolism held in Milan in June 1976. Camera-ready typed copy has been used; the quality of the figures and formulae are satisfactory except where the direct reproduction of some computer print-out and other pre-set tabular data are concerned. The 32 papers are presented in the following sections: Identification of D-rugs and Drug Metabolites; Quantitation of Drugs and Metabolites; Intermediates in the Metabolism of Drugs; Stable Isotope Labelling; Drug Abuse; and Developments in Methodology, the four papers in which constitute the main interest for analytical chemists, although several of the other papers contain interesting details of applications of g-c.-m.s., chemical ionisation m.s. etc.