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C. Dybowski and R.L. Lichter (Eds.), NMR Spectroscopy Techniques (Pructical Spectroscopy Series, Vol. 5), Dekker, New York, 1987 (ISBN 0-8247-74418). viii + 373 pp. Price $89.75 (U.S. and Canada), $107.50 (all other countries). This book is a must for all organic chemists and NMR spectroscopists, regardless of their NMR background, who wish to improve their knowledge of, and effectiveness of using, NMR spectroscopy. The book lives up to its aim to provide practical guidance to the implementation of important NMR spectroscopic techniques and the interpretation of the results. It begins with a clear exposition of the fundamental concepts of the NMR phenomenon especially those relating to Fourier transform NMR spectroscopy. An excellent introduction to 2D NMR techniques extends to a review of its application to polymers and the problems produced by strong coupling. The decoupling and spectral editing techniques for simplifying NMR spectra are explained with examples of the structural features best suited for such studies. There is wide coverage of methods used for structure assignment and stereochemical analysis of organic compounds. A chapter on high resolution NMR spectroscopy of solids concentrates on methods of obtaining spectra and includes explanations of the physical concepts of nuclear spin interactions and dipolar coupling. The effects of magic angle spinning are included. The final chapter illustrates the power of 13CNMR spectroscopy to reveal subtle structural information on polymers. It includes the application of the cross-polarisation/magic angle spinning technique to the study of polymers. John C. Tebby
Jan Schraml and Jon M. Bellama, Two Dimensional NMR Spectroscopy, Wiley, New York, 1988 (ISBN 0-471-60178-O). ix+ 220 pp. Price di52.50. This book provides an excellent, up-to-date, non-mathematical introduction to 2D NMR for those already possessing a working knowledge of the 1D technique. Readers requiring a brush-up on the fundamentals of the NMR phenomenon can find the necessary information in an appendix, but not in a form suitable to those new to NMR. After introducing 2D NMR as an extension of 1D NMR, the book proceeds to classify experimental methods into resolved and correlated techniques according to the presence or absence of a mixing period. A vector-model treatment is initially provided for the resolved techniques and then extended through the concept of SPI to offer a description of the correlated experiments. All the major pulse sequences (and some pitfalls) are illustrated by reference to spectra of a restricted range of readily-available samples (mainly 2-butanol). All necessary conditions are carefully specified, and sensitivity/resolution consid-
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erations discussed, in order that readers can reproduce the experiments on their own machines. With problem solving in mind the book ends with a chapter offering a strategy for the application of 2D NMR. Also described are the principles which allow extension of the basic sequences to include, for example, homonuclear decoupling in F, or multi-quantum filtration. Finer points such as procedures for obtaining pure-absorption lineshapes and the intricacies of phase cycling are well described in the appendices. The book is to be recommended not only for those new to 2D NMR but also as a compact source of literature references (297 in total) on all aspects of 2D NMR. S.R. Nattrass
H.-O. Kalinowski, Wiley, Chichester,
S. Berger and S. Braun, Carbon-13 NMR Spectroscopy, 1988 (ISBN o-471-91306-5). 776 pp. Price 5J75.00.
Carbon-13 NMR Spectroscopy was originally published in German in 1984 and has been revised and translated into English. The translation has been done by an experienced NMR spectroscopist and the text bears no hint of its German origin. It is a self-contained text covering the foundations of NMR, experimental techniques, chemical shifts, spin-spin coupling, T1 and nuclear Overhauser effects, dynamic NMR, lanthanide shift reagents and the study of reaction mechanisms. The two introductory chapters on the foundations of NMR and experimental techniques are some of the best I have seen and postgraduate students involved in applying NMR would do well to read these. Although a wide spread of techniques is covered, the reader is not left with the impression of what is important, e.g., the important techniques of WALTZ decoupling and DEPT receive only a paragraph each. The key chapter is on chemical shift and occupies 357 pages. There is extensive coverage of applications in organic chemistry and some coverage of organic transition metal compounds, natural products and polymers. The compounds are broken down into various classes and the information is presented in tabular form with extensive and clear use of chemical structures. In some senses the importance of the chemical shift information on organic compounds recedes as the use of computer-based spectroscopic databases, alluded to in Appendix C, increases. Not everyone, of course, has access to such databases, and the book will be invaluable to these people. For people with access to carbon-13 databases, it will be ironic that the sections on organic transition metal compounds, natural products and polymers are so short, since these are not well covered by the computer databases either. Carbon-13 NMR Spectroscopy is a comprehensive modern treatment of the