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Coordination chemistry in non-aqueous solutions
BOOK REVIEWS
293
pure form, have led in recent years to a great upsurge of interest in these metals and their compounds. Progress in their study, from all angles, has been so rapid that an up-to-date detailed coverage of the developments in these fields, by a single author, has become almost impossible. Accordingly, it is the plan of the present series, of which this is the third volume, to present on an annual basis a survey of current progress written by a group of specialists, each eminent in his own discipline and in the application of this discipline to the study of lanthanon chemistry. The present volume consists of eleven monographs-of widely varying lengths -written by specialists from the United States, France and Germany; three are written in French, the remainder in English. Each monograph is accompanied by a comprehensive list of literature references, of which there are more than 1600 in all. The topics surveyed include: (a) The electronic structure of alloys and intermetallic compounds, (b) Optical transitions in rare earth crystals, (c) Some aspects of the coordination chemistry of the rare-earth metal ions, (d) Liquid-liquid extraction of the rare earths, (e) Chimie cristalline des sulfures, sClCniures et tellurures binaires des &ments des terres rares, (f) Chimie cristalline des combinaisons ternaires soufrCes, &l&i&es et tellurCes formt5es par les eltiments des terres rares, (g) Monocarbures et mononitrures des terres rares, (h) The enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs energies of formation of the rare-earth oxides, (i) Structural and solid state chemistry of pure rare-earth oxides and hydroxides, (j) Thermodynamic and magnetic properties of the rare-earth chalcogenides, pnictides, halides and binary semi-metallic compounds, (k) The rare-earth metal-refractory metal systems and their applications. The book, which is well produced, with adequate author and subject indices, contains a very large number of diagrams and numerical tables. The last, in particular, extend the usefulness of the book and make it also an up-to-date reference book of physical, physico-chemical and crystallographic data relevant to the topics under discussion. The price may place it beyond the reach of most individual research workers, but it should be on all their library shelves. F.F.
Cooydinatiofl
Chemistry
Vienna, New York, English.)
&a Non-Aqueous S&ions, by V. GUTMANN, Springer-Verlag, x968; pp. viii + 174, IO figs.; price DM 48.--, US $ 12.00. (in
This book presents a unique line of approach to a most important and frequently neglected aspect of coordination chemistry, i.e., the rBle of the solvent as an active partner when coordination reactions are carried out in solution. All too frequently, the solvent has been taken for granted as simply providing a convenient medium for the reaction. It is pointed out however that most useful solvents possess some electrondonor or -acceptor properties which may affect the course of the reaction between other species in solution. From time to time there have been reported cases where a given donor-acceptor reaction has taken a different course on change of solvent, but these have mostly been qualitative observations. This book offers a quantitative approach to the problem. The text follows the substance of a series of lectures given by the author-who is a pioneer and leading authority in this field-at the University of Florida, Gainsviile, U.S.A., in 1967. The J‘
Less-Common
Metals,
I6 (rgb8)
292~-2g4
BOOK REVIEWS
294
book begins with a general review of the principles of coordination chemistry reactions in solution, and in non-aqueous solution in particular. In the second chapter the author develops the concept of a quantitative measure of the donor strength of most of the commonly-used solvents in terms of the enthalpies of reaction between the solvent in question and antimony pentachloride in the medium of the “neutral” solvent I+dichloroethane. There follow five chapters in which coordination reactions in various types of solvents are discussed. A valuable inclusion is the tabulation, in each individual case, of the relevant physical properties of the solvent under discussion; this greatly increases the value of the text as a source of reference. The book concludes with a chapter on the consecutive replacement of solvent molecules, by competitive ligands, in the coordination sphere of certain transition metal cations. There is a wealth of information in this book; the concepts developed open new avenues in the quantitative study of electron donor-acceptor reactions innon-aqueous media, and for workers in these fields the book is a “must”. F.F. J. Less-Common
Metals, 16 (1968) zgz--294
293
pure form, have led in recent years to a great upsurge of interest in these metals and their compounds. Progress in their study, from all angles, has been so rapid that an up-to-date detailed coverage of the developments in these fields, by a single author, has become almost impossible. Accordingly, it is the plan of the present series, of which this is the third volume, to present on an annual basis a survey of current progress written by a group of specialists, each eminent in his own discipline and in the application of this discipline to the study of lanthanon chemistry. The present volume consists of eleven monographs-of widely varying lengths -written by specialists from the United States, France and Germany; three are written in French, the remainder in English. Each monograph is accompanied by a comprehensive list of literature references, of which there are more than 1600 in all. The topics surveyed include: (a) The electronic structure of alloys and intermetallic compounds, (b) Optical transitions in rare earth crystals, (c) Some aspects of the coordination chemistry of the rare-earth metal ions, (d) Liquid-liquid extraction of the rare earths, (e) Chimie cristalline des sulfures, sClCniures et tellurures binaires des &ments des terres rares, (f) Chimie cristalline des combinaisons ternaires soufrCes, &l&i&es et tellurCes formt5es par les eltiments des terres rares, (g) Monocarbures et mononitrures des terres rares, (h) The enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs energies of formation of the rare-earth oxides, (i) Structural and solid state chemistry of pure rare-earth oxides and hydroxides, (j) Thermodynamic and magnetic properties of the rare-earth chalcogenides, pnictides, halides and binary semi-metallic compounds, (k) The rare-earth metal-refractory metal systems and their applications. The book, which is well produced, with adequate author and subject indices, contains a very large number of diagrams and numerical tables. The last, in particular, extend the usefulness of the book and make it also an up-to-date reference book of physical, physico-chemical and crystallographic data relevant to the topics under discussion. The price may place it beyond the reach of most individual research workers, but it should be on all their library shelves. F.F.
Cooydinatiofl
Chemistry
Vienna, New York, English.)
&a Non-Aqueous S&ions, by V. GUTMANN, Springer-Verlag, x968; pp. viii + 174, IO figs.; price DM 48.--, US $ 12.00. (in
This book presents a unique line of approach to a most important and frequently neglected aspect of coordination chemistry, i.e., the rBle of the solvent as an active partner when coordination reactions are carried out in solution. All too frequently, the solvent has been taken for granted as simply providing a convenient medium for the reaction. It is pointed out however that most useful solvents possess some electrondonor or -acceptor properties which may affect the course of the reaction between other species in solution. From time to time there have been reported cases where a given donor-acceptor reaction has taken a different course on change of solvent, but these have mostly been qualitative observations. This book offers a quantitative approach to the problem. The text follows the substance of a series of lectures given by the author-who is a pioneer and leading authority in this field-at the University of Florida, Gainsviile, U.S.A., in 1967. The J‘
Less-Common
Metals,
I6 (rgb8)
292~-2g4
BOOK REVIEWS
294
book begins with a general review of the principles of coordination chemistry reactions in solution, and in non-aqueous solution in particular. In the second chapter the author develops the concept of a quantitative measure of the donor strength of most of the commonly-used solvents in terms of the enthalpies of reaction between the solvent in question and antimony pentachloride in the medium of the “neutral” solvent I+dichloroethane. There follow five chapters in which coordination reactions in various types of solvents are discussed. A valuable inclusion is the tabulation, in each individual case, of the relevant physical properties of the solvent under discussion; this greatly increases the value of the text as a source of reference. The book concludes with a chapter on the consecutive replacement of solvent molecules, by competitive ligands, in the coordination sphere of certain transition metal cations. There is a wealth of information in this book; the concepts developed open new avenues in the quantitative study of electron donor-acceptor reactions innon-aqueous media, and for workers in these fields the book is a “must”. F.F. J. Less-Common
Metals, 16 (1968) zgz--294