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The hydrated electron
X0urn01of Molecular
486 BOOK
Structure
Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam. Printed in the Netherlands
REVIEiWS
The Hydrated Electron, by E. J. 1970, pp_ xiii+267,
HART AND M. ANBAR,
Wiley-Interscience,
London,
price L6.25.
Solvated electrons have been recognised and studied since the pioneering work of C. A. Kraus at the beginning of this century, but it was only with the advent of the pulsed electron radiolysis techniques in the early 1960’s that the study of this unique chemical species acquired the stature of “big science”. This recent development has consisted primarily of a cataloguing of reactions of the hydrated electron, and it is fair to say that the study of solvated electrons is now divided into two fields: structural studies of solvated electrons and their aggregates with cations in solutions of metals in non-aqueous solvents, and the study of the reactions of hydrated electrons produced by pulsed radiolysis. The slight areas of and the measurement of the averlap, e.g. tbe pulsed radiolysis of ammonia, mobility of the hydrated electron in an electric field, serve only to emphasise the major split in what ought to be single discipline. This book, whose authors must have been responsible for almost half of the literature on hydrated electrons, is primarily concerned with the reactions of hydrated electrons produced by pulsed radiolysis. After short introductory chapters on the concept of electron hydration and an historical account of early developments, chapter 3 summarises the physical properties and structure of the hydrated electron and gives a brief comparison with trapped and solvated electrons in other media. The remainder of the book (from page 75) is concerned with reactions and reactivity of hydrated electrons, with chapters dealing with reactions with inorganic, organic, and constituents of biological systems, and with mechanisms and methods. Tabulated rate constants in Appendix hydrated electron is the most exhaustively investigated
G show clearly that chemical reactant.
the
The book is very well written in a lively style with sufficient detail to make arguments clear but without labouring any points to undue length. In a rapidly expanding field it is necessarily somewhat dated by the time it appears in print, but for anyone working in the field, from the new graduate student upwards, it is essential reading. Certainly, no scientific library should be without a copy of this record of the first seven years of hydrated electron chemistry written with all the authority of workers leading research in this field. It is easy to predict high sales for this book and correspondingly less easy to justify the high price. R. C. .I. Mol. Structure, 9 (1971) 486
486 BOOK
Structure
Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam. Printed in the Netherlands
REVIEiWS
The Hydrated Electron, by E. J. 1970, pp_ xiii+267,
HART AND M. ANBAR,
Wiley-Interscience,
London,
price L6.25.
Solvated electrons have been recognised and studied since the pioneering work of C. A. Kraus at the beginning of this century, but it was only with the advent of the pulsed electron radiolysis techniques in the early 1960’s that the study of this unique chemical species acquired the stature of “big science”. This recent development has consisted primarily of a cataloguing of reactions of the hydrated electron, and it is fair to say that the study of solvated electrons is now divided into two fields: structural studies of solvated electrons and their aggregates with cations in solutions of metals in non-aqueous solvents, and the study of the reactions of hydrated electrons produced by pulsed radiolysis. The slight areas of and the measurement of the averlap, e.g. tbe pulsed radiolysis of ammonia, mobility of the hydrated electron in an electric field, serve only to emphasise the major split in what ought to be single discipline. This book, whose authors must have been responsible for almost half of the literature on hydrated electrons, is primarily concerned with the reactions of hydrated electrons produced by pulsed radiolysis. After short introductory chapters on the concept of electron hydration and an historical account of early developments, chapter 3 summarises the physical properties and structure of the hydrated electron and gives a brief comparison with trapped and solvated electrons in other media. The remainder of the book (from page 75) is concerned with reactions and reactivity of hydrated electrons, with chapters dealing with reactions with inorganic, organic, and constituents of biological systems, and with mechanisms and methods. Tabulated rate constants in Appendix hydrated electron is the most exhaustively investigated
G show clearly that chemical reactant.
the
The book is very well written in a lively style with sufficient detail to make arguments clear but without labouring any points to undue length. In a rapidly expanding field it is necessarily somewhat dated by the time it appears in print, but for anyone working in the field, from the new graduate student upwards, it is essential reading. Certainly, no scientific library should be without a copy of this record of the first seven years of hydrated electron chemistry written with all the authority of workers leading research in this field. It is easy to predict high sales for this book and correspondingly less easy to justify the high price. R. C. .I. Mol. Structure, 9 (1971) 486