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NMR of paramagnetic molecules in biological systems
BOOK REVIEW
NMR OF PARAMAGNETIC MOLECULES IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, I. Bertini and C. Luchinat, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co., 1986, Hardbound $35.95 This is the latest volume in a series labeled as "Physical Bioinorganic Chemistry" and, like the earlier volumes, it is aimed at those inorganic chemists using physical techniques to study biologically important molecules. How much of the work described is actually biologically relevant is difficult to say, probably relatively little, but then this is a comment that can be made about most reviews of physical bioinorganic techniques. Approximately the first half of the book is given over to selected NMR experimental techniques and the theory of NMR of paramagnetic molecules. To a large extent these sections duplicate material available in other books, but Bertini and Luchinat treat these subjects in a more pictorial way than other authors. I found their approach a helpful one and I expect to make considerable use of the first half of this book. The remainder of the book is a literature review with a strong emphasis on copper and iron containing systems. Manganese, cobalt, and lanthanide containing systems are also considered in some detail. The book was not intended to be comprehensive, but three omissions are surprising. There is little mention of EPR spectroscopy--it is not even an entry in the index. Few NMR texts discuss EPR, but when the main theme is NMR of paramagnetic molecules some discussion of EPR, even just a list of relevant articles, is called for. The second emission is that except for a brief discussion of spin labels and porphyrin radicals free radicals are not discussed. This may be because the authors have concentrated on "bioinorganic" systems but by excluding a detailed account of free radicals they have disregarded important biochemical systems such as flavins and quinones. Finally, although the book discusses many proteins it concentrates on resonances of the metal ligands, groups that are not directly associated with the paramagnetic center are mentioned in only a few places. This emphasis gives a misleading view of the function of metal containing systems and disregards the extensive NMR work done on characterizing spectra of a wide range of metalloproteins. Although the book was published in 1986 it appears to have been written considerably earlier. The main chapter references end in 1984 and although eight 1984/1985 papers are referenced as "notes in proof" no attempt has been made to integrate these with the main text. The time delay is unfortunate because some of the topics discussed in the latter half of the book have been advanced considerably in recent years. In summary, I can recommend this book to those researchers interested in NMR of paramagnetic systems. However, it is not a definitive text (perhaps it is unreasonable to expect there could be one) and earlier books by Dwek and Wfithrich, though in need of updating, are still needed. G. R. MOORE Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 311, 153 (1987)
© 1987 Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, NY 10017
153 0162-0134/87/$3.50
NMR OF PARAMAGNETIC MOLECULES IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, I. Bertini and C. Luchinat, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co., 1986, Hardbound $35.95 This is the latest volume in a series labeled as "Physical Bioinorganic Chemistry" and, like the earlier volumes, it is aimed at those inorganic chemists using physical techniques to study biologically important molecules. How much of the work described is actually biologically relevant is difficult to say, probably relatively little, but then this is a comment that can be made about most reviews of physical bioinorganic techniques. Approximately the first half of the book is given over to selected NMR experimental techniques and the theory of NMR of paramagnetic molecules. To a large extent these sections duplicate material available in other books, but Bertini and Luchinat treat these subjects in a more pictorial way than other authors. I found their approach a helpful one and I expect to make considerable use of the first half of this book. The remainder of the book is a literature review with a strong emphasis on copper and iron containing systems. Manganese, cobalt, and lanthanide containing systems are also considered in some detail. The book was not intended to be comprehensive, but three omissions are surprising. There is little mention of EPR spectroscopy--it is not even an entry in the index. Few NMR texts discuss EPR, but when the main theme is NMR of paramagnetic molecules some discussion of EPR, even just a list of relevant articles, is called for. The second emission is that except for a brief discussion of spin labels and porphyrin radicals free radicals are not discussed. This may be because the authors have concentrated on "bioinorganic" systems but by excluding a detailed account of free radicals they have disregarded important biochemical systems such as flavins and quinones. Finally, although the book discusses many proteins it concentrates on resonances of the metal ligands, groups that are not directly associated with the paramagnetic center are mentioned in only a few places. This emphasis gives a misleading view of the function of metal containing systems and disregards the extensive NMR work done on characterizing spectra of a wide range of metalloproteins. Although the book was published in 1986 it appears to have been written considerably earlier. The main chapter references end in 1984 and although eight 1984/1985 papers are referenced as "notes in proof" no attempt has been made to integrate these with the main text. The time delay is unfortunate because some of the topics discussed in the latter half of the book have been advanced considerably in recent years. In summary, I can recommend this book to those researchers interested in NMR of paramagnetic systems. However, it is not a definitive text (perhaps it is unreasonable to expect there could be one) and earlier books by Dwek and Wfithrich, though in need of updating, are still needed. G. R. MOORE Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 311, 153 (1987)
© 1987 Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, NY 10017
153 0162-0134/87/$3.50