The molecules of nature

BOOK

REVIEWS

4%

The Moleczcles of Nature by JAMES B. Igz pp., $7-00 (for the U.S.A.) or $7.70;

HENDRICKSOX, Benjamin, paperback $3.95.

New

York,

1965,

The enormous progress made over the past fifteen years, In our understanding of biosynthetic processes, allows natural products to be viewed simply and instructively on a biosynthetic basis. The author takes this as his starting point and sets the ambitious target of presenting to first-year students a brief scan of the field of natural

products

with

and exploration_ A survey

of the

the obvious

hope

important

that

it will serve

biosynthetic

pathways

as a base forms

for further the

first

reading

part

of the

book and this will inevitably be compared with BU'LOCK'S recent account, but the present work is less successful since there are some errors, and fact and hypothesis are too often not distinguished_ This section is followed by a brief account of the structure dete& ation and chemistry of many natural products_ The author cornrnents, “In an attempt to reveal the whole skeleton of natural products studies we must cut close to the bone and dispense with much of the meat.” Such a treatment has its dangers, not the least being that the reader will gain quite a false impression of the problem presented, for example, by the structure of strychnine (two pages)_ In

the

pitfalls

main,

the

later

sections

of this

book

and the presentation of numerous In su rnrnary, this book is a useful

have

successfully

avoided

many

examples

as problems is a valuable although it is probably more

one

for widening theview of those who have a moderate howledge cesses and natural products than for the complete beginner_ A. R_

of biosynthetic

University

BATTERSBY,

St+arations

par

Vi&rs,ParS,1g6~,400 This book

bs

R&l-tes

Echaxgeuses

B.

TR~MIILON,

a large number

of European

d’Ioms,

by

pro-

of Liverpool

.J. EZectroanaZ. CAem..

Les

such

feature_ suitable

13 (1967)469 Gauthier-

pages,goNF.

is in French.

In common

with

books,

the

content pages are at the back of the book, beyond the index_ The book is divided into two parts; Part I discusse_s in detail the fundamental properties of ion-exchange resins (152 pages) and Part II, the operation and applications of ion-exchange columns. One noteworthy feature of Part I, besides the section on eqmlibriaandkinetics of exchange in aqueous solutions is the lucid discussion of the exchange of ions in solvents other than water. A large section also describes the influence of co,mplexing chemical reactions on the ion-exchange resins, and their use in separation procedures_ Part II is also unconventional since it covers break-through volume concepts (includizg the theoretical background), frontal analysis, ion-exclusion. A chapter discusses separation by elution procedures together with examples. A novel feature is a complete and detailed chapter on the principles of ion-exchange operated in a counter-current manner_ Finally, there is a short chapter on electio-migration in ionexchange resins and membranes_ An appendix gives in graphical form the experimental values of distribution coefficients foralargenurnber ofionsin avarietyofmedia. This book is to be recommended difficulty will probably deter its usage

for libraries, but in English-speaking G.

its high

cost

and

language

countries_

N~~~~~~~,Univer~ityofBristol J. EZectloa?zd.Chetn., 13 (1967) 469