to evaluate a large number of known structures. One minor failing is the unclear way in which the formulas are numbered, which could give rise to errors. The chapter devoted to the indole alkaloids of Alstonia species is a supplement to the first nine chapters of vol. XI. The chapters on the alkaloids of the Papave- raceae and of Senecio are very thorough and therefore very useful; they reflect the endeavor to use alkaloid chemistry for chemo-taxonomic purposes. The last chapter is devoted to the legal chemical aspects of alkaloid chemistry. Its social impor- tance alone makes this chapter an essential part of the book.

The penultimate chapter, “Alkaloids Unclassified and of Un- known Structure”, presents something of a problem. As a col- lection of all those compounds which could not be classified under any other heading due to lack of chemical information, it could have had some value. In its present form, however, it includes compounds whose classification presents no diffi- culties. In some cases, the same compound even appears in two places, once in this chapter and once in the appropriate chapter in the same volume (venoterpin, pp. 208 and 458; cassipourine, pp. 323 and 464). Part of the trouble is certainly due to the relatively long delay in publication; to judge from the references most of the reviews were written in 1967, since only in ex- ceptional cases are articles published in 1968 considered. In general, it must be said that the volumes under review, like all the previous volumes, represent an increase in our store of knowledge, and one which no library specializing in this subject can afford to be without.

Karel Blaha [NB 945 IE]

[ I ] Cf. Angew. Chem. internat. Edit. 6, 192 (1967)

Tables for Use in High-Resolution Mass Spectroscopy. By R. Bings, J.S . Littler, and R. L. Cleaver. Heyden and Son Ltd., London 1970. 1st Edit., xx, 160 pp., numerous tables, DM 97.-.

The tables compiled by Bings, Litter, and Cleaver are intended to assist in the “peak matching” technique for mass determ- nation with high-resolution mass spectrometers. The authors appear to have had AEI instruments chiefly in mind.

The first table gives the most important mass lines in the spectra of perfluorokerosene, perfluoromethyldecalin, per- fluorodimethylcyclohexane, and heptacosafluorotributylamine, which are frequently used as reference components. The table also contains factors which enable the ion masses of the mass lines of a reference substance to be converted into the 13C anal- ogs. This is extremely helpful for people whose instruments do not have a digital mass indicator; users of more modern equip- ment will hardly ever use these factors.

Much the same situation is found with Table 2, which contains factors for the determination of further mass lines in the ref- erence compound. Since factors of up to 1.5 are given, while for example Varian instruments (SM 1) only permit a mass dif- ference of about lo%, this table again can only be used fully by the possessors of certain types of instruments.

The next table contains the corresponding values for fluothane. The final table simplifies the mass determination of compounds with hetero atoms, which are composed of different isotopes. It shows in graphic form the isotope ratios for chlorine, silicon, sulfur, boron, and bromine, for increasing numbers of hetero atoms, and also combinations of chlorine and bromine atoms. It can also be used to obtain the contribution of these hetero atoms to the precise ion mass. This table is thus very useful for the mass determination of compounds containing hetero atoms, particularly as such values are not given in other collec- tions of tables for the determination of empirical formulas.

The book is completed by an appendix containing the tried and trusted “Henneberg Tables” for mass determination.

This collection of tables is thus an important aid, but principally for those laboratories carrying out precise mass determinations

with instruments not fitted with digital mass indicators. Of this limited clientele, some will undoubtedly be frightened off by the high price. This appears to be due to the attractive binding (artificial leather) rather than the contents.

Gerhard Spiteller [NB 939 IE]

Coordination Compounds. From the series Studies in Modern Chemistry. By S. F. A. Kettle. Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., London 1969. 1st Edit., vii, 220pp., f 1.75.

The present series now includes a monograph on coordination compounds, written by a very notable English author belonging to the younger generation of theoretical chemists. The contents are divided into eleven chapters: 1. Introduction; 2. Nomencla- ture and geometrical structure of coordination compounds; 3. Preparation of coordination compounds; 4. Stability of coordi- nation compounds; 5. Crystal-field theory of transition metal complexes; 6. Ligand-field theory of transition metal com- plexes; 7. Electronic spectra of transition metal complexes; 8. Magnetic properties of transition metal complexes; 9. Other methods of studying coordination compounds (vibration spec- troscopy, resonance spectroscopy), 10. Thermodynamic as- pects; 11. Reaction kinetics of coordination compounds. There is an appendix containing brief discussions of some applications of group theory, the Russell-Saunders coupling scheme, the sig- nificance of ligand group orbitals, and examples of Tanabe-Su- gano diagrams. The text is supplemented by numerous clearly arranged tables and figures.

This very clearly written monograph attempts to bridge the gap between the standard textbooks and the almost unmanageably large number of publications in the field of coordination chem- istry. The author is writing mainly for advanced students, and assumes an elementary knowledge of A 0 and MO theory, chemical kinetics, and thermodynamics. He is principally con- cerned with the coordination compounds of the transition met- als, but in a number of places he also draws attention to com- plexes of the main group elements. It is pleasant to find numerous references to the analogy between the coordination relationships in solution and in the solid state, but regrettably, there is no discussion of the large number of coordination com- pounds in which the central atom is formally in a lower state of oxidation. Again, a monograph like this, which deliberately goes beyond the range of the elementary textbooks, ought to have references to the more important works in the literature (e.g. to review articles on important sub-topics). Despite these objections, however, the book can be thoroughly recommended to any chemist whose mzin gnrerest is “classical metal com- plexes”.

Helmut Werner [NB 940 IEJ

Free-Radical Chain Reactions. By E. S. Huyser. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., New York - London 1970. 1st Edit., 387 pp., numerous figures, bound, f 9.50.

The study of radical chain reactions has long ranked as a domain of physical chemistry; in lectures on organic chemistry this type of reaction is usually only mentioned in passing, with reference to a few reactions, such as the chlorination of methane. Today this topic is of importance in both preparative and full-scale industrial organic chemistry, and in the present work E. S. Huyser has undertaken to present the basic principles of the kinetics and mechanisms of these reactions clearly and in a manner understandable by any chemist. The complicated ki- netic equations are derived in so detailed a manner that even those less experienced in mathematics should be able to follow them in every detail.

Chapters 1-4 deal with the fundamentals of the mechanisms, kinetics and the relationships between structure and reactivity. The following sections are concerned with the principal types of chain reactions: aliphatic substitutions (greatest emphasis being placed on halogenation), radical additions (the compound being added and the unsaturated substrate are separately and systematically dealt with), eliminations, and radical rearrange- ments. A separate chapter is devoted to the chemistry of in-

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