a survey of information contained in the patent literature concerning the recovery and separation of nickel and cobalt by the use of organic compounds. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 is concerned with processes which use organic substances to extract nickel or cobalt from solids. Part 2, much the longest, deals with solvent extraction of nickel or cobalt, or both, from aqueous solutions: it is arranged by the nature of the functional group of the extractant. Part 3 deals with methods for removing impurities from solutions of nickel and-or cobalt by solvent extraction, ysing tabulated lists of extractants proposed for removal of individual elements.

The book must not be used as though it were a balanced account of the present state of the science and technology of nickel- cobalt separation. There is, for example, no indication that alkyl phosphonic and phos- phinic acids are more effective in separating the two metals than is di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid, or that the latter is used industrially for that purpose, although at an elevated temperature. It is however, a source of much valuable, but little-known, information.

A. R. Burkin

Riimpps Chemie-Lexikon, Vol.4, M-Pk. By O-A. Neumiiller. Pp. 800. Franckh, Stuttgart. 1985. DM 195.

Dictionaries of chemistry were very popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In recent years, however, they have de- clined in popularity and have evolved into one-volume dictionaries for individuals, and the extremely expensive multivolume encyc- lopedias destined for libraries. A single- volume dictionary cannot hope to cover a given topic in any depth, and it is not surprising that chemists are reluctant to invest in such meagre sources of informa- tion.

The present volume, which is the fourth volume of the eighth edition of a well established dictionary of chemistry, is an excellent attempt at bridging the gap between information and cost. At .f50 a volume, it is no dearer than many popular encyclopedias, and yet it is large enough that a whole page can be devoted to, say, the macromolecule, and no less than six pages to nmr-spectroscopy. There are certain features of this dictionary which deserve mention. The international hazard symbols are included in the entries on chemicals, proprietary names are given their scientific equivalents, and the coverage of abbrevia- tions is very good. Many industrial proces- ses and products are covered, for example, the OX0 process and pigments, as well as the usual chemical reactions such as the Michael addition. The historically inclined chemist will find the many biographies of chemists (from Marggraf to Mark) and historical entries on chemical companies of great value. Naturally, there is a bias towards German products and chemists, but

not to the extent that this becomes a problem.

This dictionary is very well printed and bound. It is altogether a fine product, and well worth its admittedly high price.

Peter Morris

Synthetic Fuels. Edited by G. E. Beghi. Pp. 497. Riedel, Dordrechr. 1985. Dfl. 170.00 ($59.00, f47.251.

The domination of our society’s energy supplies by petroleum has made the econ- omy vulnerable to restriction of oil sup- plies. This vulnerability might be overcome (assuming that we desire to maintain a high-energy society) by developing alterna- tive energy sources possessing petroleum’s advantageous characteristics of easy conver- sion and transportability. Such alternatives include synthetic fuels or ‘synfuels’. The chief lines of synfuel research and develop- ment involve liquefication and gasification of coal, and novel biomass fuels.

The volume, which is based upon a course of lectures organised by the EEC, clearly describes the synfuel state-of-art, their use in automobiles, and environmental impact. The EEC interest in synfuels is based upon the strategic need to ensure timely and effective availability of a range of commer- cial fuel technologies in case of future oil crises. Because of the recent fall in oil prices synfuels do not have a wide commerical appeal in the short term, whatever their long-term potential; consequently the re- search, development, and demonstration of necessary synfuel technology is mostly paid for out of the public purse. Several lecturers describe national programmes, and the EEC programmes, Liquifaction and Gasification of Solid Fuels, and Energy from Biomass.

H. Rothman

Total Synthesis of Natural Products: The ‘Chiron’ Approach. By Stephen Hanessian. Pp. 291. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 1985. Flexicover $20.00.

The synthesis of optically pure compounds has changed from being the province largely of academic research workers to one which is an essential goal for chemists in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and related industries. The chirality introduced by enzyme-catalysed reactions can only rarely be used to produce directly the optically pure product. Recourse must therefore be made to optical resolution of a racemic mixture or to the use of optically active starting materials. These may be either the products of specific enzymic reactions or natural products such as terpenes, amino acids, or carbohydrates produced by plants or micro-organisms.

Stephen Hanessian has chosen to use carbohydrates, which are probably the most readily available chiral molecules, as his building blocks and has shown how these can be used for the synthesis of optically pure natural products. This is very much a

‘how to do it’ monograph. The early chapters are concerned with a retrosynthetic analysis of the target molecule. The object is to identify fragments of the molecule, chiral synthons or ‘chirons’, which maintain the stereochemical features of the target molecule and which can be prepared from carbohydrate precursors. We are shown how to recognize these synthons whether the carbohydrate skeleton is obvious or almost totally hidden, and having done so how the eventual synthesis of the natural product is achieved.

This is very much a book for the experienced synthetic chemist who will learn much and who will appreciate the elegance and the wide applicability of the methods which are described. The beginner would probably be totally bemused by the con- cepts, the wealth of detail, and the knowledge of organic synthesis which it is assumed the reader possesses.

H. C. S. Wood

The Colour Science of Dyes and Pigments. 2nd Ed. By K. McLaren. Pp. 209. Adam Hilger, Bristol. 1986. f 19.50.

It is only three years since the first edition of McLaren’s book was published. However, the author points out that developments in colour science and technology have con- tinued at a rapid rate. The elucidation of the molecular structure of the visual pigment rhodopsin and the adoption of instrumental shade sorting by the garment industry of the UK are cited as disparate examples. A new edition has permitted the inclusion of various items which were originally omitted, but the basic framework of the text remains unaltered. Thus, the twelve chapters, a brief history of the development of colouring matters; the application of colouring mat- ters; the main theories of colour vision; the mechanisms of colour vision; defective colour vision; the variables of perceived colour vision; the measurement of colour; colour measuring instruments; the quan- tification of colour differences; the quan- tification of colour appearance; and compu- ter match prediction, now occupy an additional 19 pages. It is a pity that the opportunity was not taken to correct the irritating misuse of cyclohexane hexagons to represent benzene rings in many of the early examples. This apart, the revised book continues to make a valuable contribution to colour science.

G. Hallas

Molecular Connectivity in Structure- Activity Analysis. By Lemonr B. Kier and Lowell H. Hall. Pp. 262. Research Studies Press, Lerchworth, UK. 1986. f30.50.

Given the number of significant advances in the molecular connectivity methodology and its information significance that have occur- red over the past decade, publication of this book is particularly opportune. The selec- tion of material and the clarity of style is

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