- Email: [email protected]
Organic photochemistry, volume 8
The Various and Ingenious Machines of Agostino Ramelli. Translated from the Italian and French, with a Biographical Study of the Author, by Martha Teach Gnudi: Technical Annotations and a Pictorial Glossary by Eugene S. Ferguson. Pp. 604. Dover Publications, New York: Scalar Press, Aldershot. 1987. f25.00.
In 1942 Martha Gnudi, in association with Cyril S. Smith, made a notable contribution to the study of the history of technology with her translation of Biringuccio’s Pirotechnia (1540). We are now further in her debt with the appearance of a translation of Ramelli’s Le Diversi et Artifciose Machine (1588), complete with reproductions of all the 194 magnificent plates of the original, from the rare folio edition. To this she has added a 5OOO-wordcritical biography of Ramelli and an evaluation of his book. Eugene Ferguson contributes a section on the sources on which Ramelli drew - including Agricola’s richly illustrated De Re Metallica (1555) - and another on the influence which his book exerted as, for example, on Jacob Leupold’s great Theatrum Machinarum Generale (17231729). He also contributes an ingenious pictorial glossary, diagrammatically depicting 84 basic elements of mechanical devices. Finally, there is an 18-page bibliography, and an index. This translation was first published in 1976 by Scalar Press in association with Johns Hopkins University Press. Now, in association with Dover Publications, Scalar are to be congratulated on making this handsome volume available at what is, by modern standards, a very reasonable price. Trevor 1. Williams
Ion Exchange and Solvent Extraction. Edited by Jacob A. Marinsky and Yizhak Marcus. Pp. 275. Dekker, USA. 1987. $99.75 (US and Canada); $179.50 (all other countries).
This book is volume 10in a series and contains chapters on the solvent extraction of Industrial Organic Substances, Liquid Membranes, Mixed Solvents in Gas Extraction, Interfacial Phenomena in Solvent Extraction, and Synergistic Extractions of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV). The chapters are of varying length and quality. That dealing with Industrial organic substances is mainly associated with the extraction of acetic acid and phenols; important solutes from biotechnology are hardly touched upon. Liquid membranes are covered very adequately. The chapter on interfacial phenomena is overlong and is mainly aimed at the effects of the surfaces and masstransfer rates. It is heavily biased towards Russian work and a more balanced account would have covered the Marangoni Effect in greater detail. The techniques for studying the interface are only touched upon. The chapters on extracting and separating Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) and the use of mixed solvents in gas extraction are very specialized. The former is uncritical and is more a listing of works. The latter deals with an increasingly
196
important technique of extraction with compressed gases. This volume will provide a useful reference source for workers in the held and it will, no doubt, find its way on to many library shelves. M. A. Hughes The Organometallic Chemistry of the Transition Metals. By Robert H. Crabtree. Pp. 482. Wiley Interscience, Chichester. 1988. f34.50.
This is an introductory text on organometallic chemistry aimed at the senior undergraduate or post-graduate student. Crabtree develops the subject by considering how organometallit species react; the greater part of the book is devoted to a systematic description of ligand substitution, oxidative addition and reductive elimination, insertion. nucleophilic and electrophilic addition and abstraction, etc. These topics are interspersed with chapters on specific ligands types - alkyls, hydrides, n-acids - and there is also coverage of clusters, applications to organic synthesis and of bioorganometallic chemistry. Characterization is treated in a single chapter, largely concerned with NMR. The writing is clear and there is a sensible selective coverage of the original literature. Each chapter concludes with a problem section (with answers). The book comes quite favourably out of the inevitable comparison with the corresponding sections of Cotton and Wilkinson, except for its cost. If a competitively priced paperback edition appears I think that Crabtree’s book will be recommended by many teachers of introductory courses of organometallic chemistry. Kenneth W. Muir Organic Photochemistry, Volumes 8 and 9. Edited by Albert Padwa. Pp. 392. (Vol. 8); Pp. 268 (Vol. 9). Dekker, New York. 1987. $99.75 (US and Canada); $119.50 (elsewhere), each vol.
This series is unique in providing, on a fairly regular basis, up-to-date critical reviews on selected topics in the field, which is particularly useful in a branch of chemistry that continues to expand vigorously. I suspect that many chemists have not fully appreciated the interaction of photochemistry with a wide range of other subjects, nor its relevance in substantial areas of applied chemistry. The editor’s intention is to offer ‘timely consideration of important aspects of organic photochemistry that have not yet received sufficiently careful and critical examination, exposition and review.’ In Volume 8 those aspects are atmospheric photochemistry; reactions using short-wavelength UV; matrix isolation photochemistry; and organic photorearrangements in crystals. All are well written, though the first is likely to have the widest appeal beyond a circle of immediate specialists, because it addresses the chemical development of the primitive Earth. The author’s conclusion outlines the current best-fit model, the major assumptions on which it is based, and tHe uncertainties that remain. Would that other chemists were as willing to recognize the limits, and not just the strengths, of their models.
The chapters in Volume 9 cover photoreactions of compounds containing C=N groups; intramolecular reactions of conjugated olefins; and photolytic deprotection or activation of functional groups. The first two topics stand in the mainstream of organic photochemistry, one relatively new and the other longer established by the subject’s timescales. The third chapter provides a valuable aid to the synthetic chemist in devising his strategies, since photochemical methods are often complementary to thermal methods in their selectivity and other characteristics. The publisher’s tight guidelines to authors for the preparation of their camera-ready manuscripts has led to books in which variations from one chapter to another are not obtrusive. In presentation as well as content. these volumes are certainly worthy additions to the series. J. D. Coyle
Bioseparations: Downstream Processing for Biotechnology. By Paul A. Belter, E. L. Cussler and Wei-Shou Hu. Pp. 364. Wiley lnterscience, Chichester. 1988. f34.50.
This book caters for those moving into biotechnology from core disciplines in the sciences and engineering. Early drafts were used as a lecture course for graduate students and the text shows all the strengths and weaknesses of its origins in an academic chemical engineering department. The overall layout is logical, taking the reader from an overview of processing, to the individual unit operations required to recover the final product. There is a short introduction to each major section and each chapter considers the fundamental principles before describing specific equipment. The authors make no apology for assuming a reasonable level of numeracy in the reader (i.e. at least simple calculus) and emphasize that commercial biotechnology must be quantitative. However, the non-engineer may see this as a drawback. The large number of worked examples and set problems make the text long and disjointed. These examples are an important part of any lecture course but may not appeal to those outside this tutorial discipline. It is not a book which the average scientist would read from cover to cover, but is a useful reference source for those with an occasional interest in separations and is an excellent text book for the formal training of process engineers. Alan Rosevear
Modern Microbiology Methods: Bacterial Cell Surface Techniques. Edited by I. C. Hancock and I. R. Poxton. Pp. 329. Wiley, Chichester. 1988. f40.00 ($74.50).
This excellent book is more than just a compilation of laboratory techniques for the study of bacterial surfaces. Drs Hancock and Poxton have skilfully blended contributions from specialists in a wide range of techniques with interesting and readable accounts of the background to the subject. The first chapter focuseson the structure of
In 1942 Martha Gnudi, in association with Cyril S. Smith, made a notable contribution to the study of the history of technology with her translation of Biringuccio’s Pirotechnia (1540). We are now further in her debt with the appearance of a translation of Ramelli’s Le Diversi et Artifciose Machine (1588), complete with reproductions of all the 194 magnificent plates of the original, from the rare folio edition. To this she has added a 5OOO-wordcritical biography of Ramelli and an evaluation of his book. Eugene Ferguson contributes a section on the sources on which Ramelli drew - including Agricola’s richly illustrated De Re Metallica (1555) - and another on the influence which his book exerted as, for example, on Jacob Leupold’s great Theatrum Machinarum Generale (17231729). He also contributes an ingenious pictorial glossary, diagrammatically depicting 84 basic elements of mechanical devices. Finally, there is an 18-page bibliography, and an index. This translation was first published in 1976 by Scalar Press in association with Johns Hopkins University Press. Now, in association with Dover Publications, Scalar are to be congratulated on making this handsome volume available at what is, by modern standards, a very reasonable price. Trevor 1. Williams
Ion Exchange and Solvent Extraction. Edited by Jacob A. Marinsky and Yizhak Marcus. Pp. 275. Dekker, USA. 1987. $99.75 (US and Canada); $179.50 (all other countries).
This book is volume 10in a series and contains chapters on the solvent extraction of Industrial Organic Substances, Liquid Membranes, Mixed Solvents in Gas Extraction, Interfacial Phenomena in Solvent Extraction, and Synergistic Extractions of Zr(IV) and Hf(IV). The chapters are of varying length and quality. That dealing with Industrial organic substances is mainly associated with the extraction of acetic acid and phenols; important solutes from biotechnology are hardly touched upon. Liquid membranes are covered very adequately. The chapter on interfacial phenomena is overlong and is mainly aimed at the effects of the surfaces and masstransfer rates. It is heavily biased towards Russian work and a more balanced account would have covered the Marangoni Effect in greater detail. The techniques for studying the interface are only touched upon. The chapters on extracting and separating Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) and the use of mixed solvents in gas extraction are very specialized. The former is uncritical and is more a listing of works. The latter deals with an increasingly
196
important technique of extraction with compressed gases. This volume will provide a useful reference source for workers in the held and it will, no doubt, find its way on to many library shelves. M. A. Hughes The Organometallic Chemistry of the Transition Metals. By Robert H. Crabtree. Pp. 482. Wiley Interscience, Chichester. 1988. f34.50.
This is an introductory text on organometallic chemistry aimed at the senior undergraduate or post-graduate student. Crabtree develops the subject by considering how organometallit species react; the greater part of the book is devoted to a systematic description of ligand substitution, oxidative addition and reductive elimination, insertion. nucleophilic and electrophilic addition and abstraction, etc. These topics are interspersed with chapters on specific ligands types - alkyls, hydrides, n-acids - and there is also coverage of clusters, applications to organic synthesis and of bioorganometallic chemistry. Characterization is treated in a single chapter, largely concerned with NMR. The writing is clear and there is a sensible selective coverage of the original literature. Each chapter concludes with a problem section (with answers). The book comes quite favourably out of the inevitable comparison with the corresponding sections of Cotton and Wilkinson, except for its cost. If a competitively priced paperback edition appears I think that Crabtree’s book will be recommended by many teachers of introductory courses of organometallic chemistry. Kenneth W. Muir Organic Photochemistry, Volumes 8 and 9. Edited by Albert Padwa. Pp. 392. (Vol. 8); Pp. 268 (Vol. 9). Dekker, New York. 1987. $99.75 (US and Canada); $119.50 (elsewhere), each vol.
This series is unique in providing, on a fairly regular basis, up-to-date critical reviews on selected topics in the field, which is particularly useful in a branch of chemistry that continues to expand vigorously. I suspect that many chemists have not fully appreciated the interaction of photochemistry with a wide range of other subjects, nor its relevance in substantial areas of applied chemistry. The editor’s intention is to offer ‘timely consideration of important aspects of organic photochemistry that have not yet received sufficiently careful and critical examination, exposition and review.’ In Volume 8 those aspects are atmospheric photochemistry; reactions using short-wavelength UV; matrix isolation photochemistry; and organic photorearrangements in crystals. All are well written, though the first is likely to have the widest appeal beyond a circle of immediate specialists, because it addresses the chemical development of the primitive Earth. The author’s conclusion outlines the current best-fit model, the major assumptions on which it is based, and tHe uncertainties that remain. Would that other chemists were as willing to recognize the limits, and not just the strengths, of their models.
The chapters in Volume 9 cover photoreactions of compounds containing C=N groups; intramolecular reactions of conjugated olefins; and photolytic deprotection or activation of functional groups. The first two topics stand in the mainstream of organic photochemistry, one relatively new and the other longer established by the subject’s timescales. The third chapter provides a valuable aid to the synthetic chemist in devising his strategies, since photochemical methods are often complementary to thermal methods in their selectivity and other characteristics. The publisher’s tight guidelines to authors for the preparation of their camera-ready manuscripts has led to books in which variations from one chapter to another are not obtrusive. In presentation as well as content. these volumes are certainly worthy additions to the series. J. D. Coyle
Bioseparations: Downstream Processing for Biotechnology. By Paul A. Belter, E. L. Cussler and Wei-Shou Hu. Pp. 364. Wiley lnterscience, Chichester. 1988. f34.50.
This book caters for those moving into biotechnology from core disciplines in the sciences and engineering. Early drafts were used as a lecture course for graduate students and the text shows all the strengths and weaknesses of its origins in an academic chemical engineering department. The overall layout is logical, taking the reader from an overview of processing, to the individual unit operations required to recover the final product. There is a short introduction to each major section and each chapter considers the fundamental principles before describing specific equipment. The authors make no apology for assuming a reasonable level of numeracy in the reader (i.e. at least simple calculus) and emphasize that commercial biotechnology must be quantitative. However, the non-engineer may see this as a drawback. The large number of worked examples and set problems make the text long and disjointed. These examples are an important part of any lecture course but may not appeal to those outside this tutorial discipline. It is not a book which the average scientist would read from cover to cover, but is a useful reference source for those with an occasional interest in separations and is an excellent text book for the formal training of process engineers. Alan Rosevear
Modern Microbiology Methods: Bacterial Cell Surface Techniques. Edited by I. C. Hancock and I. R. Poxton. Pp. 329. Wiley, Chichester. 1988. f40.00 ($74.50).
This excellent book is more than just a compilation of laboratory techniques for the study of bacterial surfaces. Drs Hancock and Poxton have skilfully blended contributions from specialists in a wide range of techniques with interesting and readable accounts of the background to the subject. The first chapter focuseson the structure of