90
Unfortunately perhaps not all chapters include a critical perspective of the field, or suggest future directions. Particularly interesting in this context is Posner's enlightening writing on alumina-supported reagents, or Csicery and Laszlo's crisp account of shapeselective catalysis on zeolites. Overall, this book will be a valuable addition to many synthetic chemists' personal library, as it brings together expertly written, if somewhat concise, reviews of topics which have seldom been considered as a whole. It will not be a primary reference to those concerned with organic reactive polymers, but it will certainly contribute to the development of new and exciting supported chemistry through increased awareness of the variety of supports which are available, their characterization and their uses. JEAN M.J. FRI~CHET
Cornell University
This text of 545 pages is a little unusual because it comprises 27 chapters, each with its own author or authors. On average therefore each contribution is only of about 20 pages. To give the book some overall structure the editor has divided it into eight parts: I. Supported Reagents: General principles II. Physico-Chemical Studies of the Structure of the Solid Supports III. Polymer-supported Reagents IV. Graphite Intercalation Compounds V. Alumina-supported Reagents VI. Silica-supported and Silica-gel-supported Reagents VII. Use of Zeolites and Supports VIII. Clay-activated Organic Reactions The book concentrates primarily on inorganic supports--alumina, silica, zeolites and clays--and deals with polymer-supported systems relatively briefly in only 60 pages--Part III, Chapter 12, 13, and 14. As a
result the text does not overlap unduly with the more specialised texts on polymer-supported species, but rather it complements these quite nicely. Part I is probably the least coherent of all the sections of the book. It deals with general principles of support chemistry including the surface structure of supports and the physico-chemical properties of metal oxides. However, it also deals with more specialised areas such as the photochemistry of adsorbed molecules and electrochemistry at modified surfaces. These do however provide a useful interface with related areas such as sensors and conducting polymers. Within Chapters 3-5 in this part a description of some supported reactions is given. The last chapter in Part I, Chapter 6, gives some practical guidance in setting up supported reactions and includes seven detailed experimental procedures. These are likely to prove very useful to new practitioners of the techniques, but might have been included more appropriately as an "experimental" appendix. Part II concentrates on physico-chemical studies of supports and supported species. Chapter 7 is a very useful and concise compilation of surface analysis techniques. So often these are described in such detail and with such enthusiasm by authors that they lose their usefulness to all but the specialist. This is n o t so in this case, and there is something for everyone to learn in the chapter. Chapters 8 and 9 deal with ESR and N M R techniques applied mainly to zeolites and silica, while Chapter 10 covers wider aspects of the physico-chemical characterisation of chemical species on or in zeolites, clays, silica and alumina. Finally, Chapter 11 covers the X-ray crystallography of clays specifically. The treatment is very pictorial and most useful for the "non-clay" and "non-solid state" expert. Part III deals with polymer-supported species, i.e., organic macromolecules as supports. Taken as a group, Chapters 12-14 give a reasonably broad coverage, but obviously
91
cannot compare with other texts dealing specifically with this area and running to about ten times the size of Part III. Nevertheless the reviews given here are very useful in providing a rapid comparison with the inorganic-based systems. The major areas dealt with are polymer-supported reagents, a c i d / base catalysts, phase transfer catalysts, transition-metal complex catalysts and oxidation/ reduction systems. Part IV (Chapter 15 only) covers intercalation compounds of graphite and their reactions. In keeping with the main spirit of the book this chapter deals with reactions rather than with intercalate structures, and provides a very systematic review. Both stoichiometric applications and catalytic ones are discussed. Part V focusses on alumina-supported reagents in two separate chapters. Chapter 16 is essentially a comprehensive review of addition, redox, substitution, elimination and rearrangement reactions. It demonstrates very clearly how wide the applicability of these systems can be. In contrast, Chapter 17 covers specifically anion activation in anhydrous media, the most important systems being hydroxide (and alkoxide) and fluoride supported anions. Part VI describes reactions involving silica and silica-gel supported species. Chapter 18 complements Chapter 16 in its broad coverage, and deals with stoichiometric reductions, oxidations, and anion activations, and also catalytic oxidations and reductions. Chapter 19 is more specialised and covers the behaviour of silica supported species in polymerisation reactions. Finally in this part, Chapter 20 reviews reactions performed specifically in anhydrous media. Part VII presents a review of zeolite supports. Chapter 21 describes the newer zeolite structures (rather briefly), including their pore size characteristics, their adsorptive properties, and their characteristic IR spectra. The use of metal-containing species as catalysts in, for example, hydrocarbon cracking is also
dealt with here. Chapter 22 is more substantial in dealing with the important area of shape-selective catalysis. Considerably more detail about structure is given, and more emphasis is placed on mechanistic aspects. The question of selectivity, its control and applications forms a central theme in the chapter. Part VIII completes the book with a discussion of clay-supported species. Chapter 23 deals with the use of clays in acid-catalysed isomerisations. It describes systems using both synthetic and natural clays. Oxidations are covered in Chapter 24, where there is more emphasis on the use of the clay as a support for other species. Chapter 25 similarly deals with reduction reactions, Chapter 26 with anion activation, and Chapter 27 with cationic reactions. As far as the reviewer is aware, this book is the first to deal with this area so comprehensively. As a result it will be valuable to those already working in one of the fields, to those working in related fields (e.g. polymer-supported species) and to those who are tempted to enter the area. It will be particularly useful to synthetic organic chemists who might simply want to use the methodology to solve their own problems. Undoubtedly many potential solutions to intractable problems are contained within these pages! Occasionally a scientific text appears which is comprehensive, the first in its area, timely, well written and well produced. Such texts are often destined to become the reference text for the particular area. This book looks very much as if it will occupy such a position, and as such it is well worth acquiring by both specialists and non-specialists alike. Certainly no quality science library can afford to be without a copy.
D.C. SHERRINGTON
University of Strathclyde Glasgow