BOOH REVIEUJ,f I[1967];50, A547 [1973]),I shall limlt myself
.-to discussingdifferen- betW7: the sId
An Introduction t o inorganic Chemistry
Keith F. PurceN, Kansas State University
and John C. Koiz, State University of New
York, College at Oneonta. W. B. Saunders
Company. Philadelphia. 1980. xv + 637
pp. Figs. and tables. 20 X 27 cm.
This book is a scaled down version of the
has been written for a one-semester course e t
the undergraduate level. The text falls into
the category which emphasizes fundamentals
of structure. bonding. and reactivity rather
than a svstekatie treVitmentof the eiements
, ~ ~
hy :n,up<. The redurtiw in SBZPwme%atthe
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expense of hyher lewl th~cmrwaland de-
scriptive material. The I,uok d a r w o u t with
a prologue which gives valuable perspective
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ment and enthusiasm!
The basic organization of the book is in
three parts. Part 1: The Tools of Chemical
Interpretation. This involves sections on
atomic concepts, molecular topologies, and
orbital theories. The atomic concepts have
been written a t a lower level, but this version
is still one of the best t o be found anywhere.
Symmetry properties are described early, but
group theory and character tables have been
eliminated. Solid state topics appear in the
second chapter which is an organization
change from "Inorganic Chemistry." Part 2:
Descriptive Non-Metal Chemistry with In-
terpretations. Concepts of aeid-base inter-
actions, structure, bonding, and kinetics are
used to unifv non-metal chemistrv. Some of
A separate chapter on catalysis has been in-
troduced. Recent advances in bio-inorganic
chemistry have been detailed.
Each chapter has its prologue, study
questions, checkpoints, and references up to
1979. S.I. units areemployed in thisedition.
The most unique features of this text remain
the emphasis on mechanisms, discussions on
angular orbital overlap, and the successful
blending of descriptive chemistry with
structure, bonding, and readion mechanisms
to give a truly exciting book.
L. J. THERIOT the new Section IV, Special Topin. Thus,
North Texas State University Chapter 22 has become the basis for Chapter
Denton. TX 76203 25, Metal Carbonyls and Other Complexes
Advanced Inorganic Chemistry: A
Comprehensive Text, 4th Edition
F Albert Cotton and Geoffrey Wilkinson.
John Wiley 8 Sons. New York. 1980. xvi
+ 1396 pp. Figs. and tables. 24.5 X 17
cm.
Because my reviews of the first three edi-
tions of this excellent text have appeared in
THIS JOURNAL(40, 230 [1963]; 44, A240
A204 Journal of Chemical Education
edltmn and the 4th ednt~on,whlch is de-
scribed accurately as "completely revised
from the orieinal literature." This standard
text l l e ~Iwen updated tprlmilry litersum
relercn<.e.35 late as July I!J?!lj innd expanded
trim I L :lrd~ edition (I:)% pl,. vvrsus 1145 pp )
by the judicious rearrangement and careful
rewriting of chapters and of material within
sections as well as by the meticulous insertion
of new material. The major change fram
previous editions is the elimination of most
of the elementaw material on atomic struc- ~ ~~
turr, l a n h g , molecular wl,iulr, liyand field
t h a r y , and rtmilar mpirs Inerawr, in contrast
t o the situation in the past, they are now
taught at lower levels and are covered fully in
more elementary texts, including the authors'
own "Basic Inorganic Chemistry." Conse-
quently, there is a greater emphasis on de-
scriptive chemistry and addition of an entire
new section, Part IV, Special Topics (297
PP.).
Part I, Introductory Topics (fvmerly titled
General Theory) has been expanded from 144
pp. to 209 pp. by addition of three new
chapters-Nonmolecular Solids (25 pp., re-
vised from the former chapter Ionic Solids
and Other Extended Arrays), Introduction to
Ligands and Complexes I46 pp.), and Clas-
sification of Ligands by Donor Atoms (88
pp.). The chapter on The Nature of Chemical
Bonding has been eliminated and some of its
tn:ateriial placed elsewhen..
I'art ll.('hernistry ol the Mirm Gmup El-
t w ~ n 1 :1 1 ~ ~ m ~titled
e ~ I v( ' l ~ e n ~ ~ sof
transitivn ~ l e m e k shas
) been expanded from
trv
No".
379 pp, to 402 pp. by addition of new material
and new sections (such as Compounds with
AILN Bonds, Linear Polyphvsphazenes,
Phosphate Esters in Biology, Chemical
I'n,prrtwr of Dioxyyen. Orgnn<,mercury
('mnpund~,in the Envmmwmt)
I'arl lll,('hemiatrvof the'lhnaition Ele-
ments, still the long& section of the book,
has been reduced fram 588 pp. to 428 pp. even
though about thirty new and timely sections
have been added (such as Binuclear Com-
pounds-Quadruple Bonds, Compounds
with Iron in Mixed Oxidation States, Cop-
per(II1) and Copper(1V) Compounds, Nio-
bium and Tantalum Cluster Compounds,
Organoheteropoly Anions, Trirhenium
Chloride Nonachloride and Its Derivatives,
The Creutz-Taube Complex and Related
Complexes, and Platmum Compounds in
Cancer Chemotherapy). This space reduction
has been accomplished by incorporation of
material from the chapters deleted from the
3rd edition (Chaps. 21-24) into chapters in
with n-Acceptor Ligands (31 p p ) ; Chapter
23, Organametallic Compounds of Transition
Elements, has been expanded to Chapter 27,
Transition Metal Compounds with Bonds to
Hydrogen and Carbon (70 pp.); and Chapter
24 on homogeneous catalytic reactions has
been split into two chapters (Chaps. 29 and
30), one on synthesis (31pp.) and one on ca-
talysis (45 pp.). Furthermore, all of the ma-
terial on kinetics has been collected into
Chapter 28, Reaction Mechanisms and Mo-
lecular Rearrangements m Complexes (61
pp.). and new chapters an Metal-to-Metal
Bonds and Metal Atom Clusters (Chap. 26,
33 pp.) and Bioinorganic Chemistry (Chap.
I 31,36 pp.) have been added. Also, same of the
theoret~calmaterial from the 3rd edition has
been relegated to Appendices for reference
and review, and the previously inadequate
index has been expanded from 24 pp. to 30
pp. Many of the numerous figures, graphs,
and tables have been redrawn.
Once again, the authors, who are among
the most prominent researchers in the field
(Prof. Cotton is the recipient of numerous
honors, and Sir Geoffrey was awarded the
Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1973 for his work
on sandwich comoounds). have soared no.~
~
~~ pniw in revising what h:ss Iwvn a mmt SUC-
vrhrful hook. W ~ h u o;dlc,wmy
t thesizeofthe
hwk t u wet out ,,I h;ml, they have signdi
cantly increased the amount of factual ma-
terial and still attained their goal of providing
"the student, or other reader, with the
knowledge necessary to read with compre-
hension the contemporary research literature
in inorganic chemistry and certain areas of
organometallic chemistry." For this pedag-
ogical triumph they deserve our profound
thanks.
GEORGEB. KAUFFMAN
California State University. Fresno
Fresno. CA 93740
Elementary Practical Organic
Chemistry 1: Preparations, 3rd Edition
Revised by 6'. V Smithand N. M. Waldron.
Longman Publishers, New York, 1980. v +
407 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.8 X 24.2 cm.
This revised and streamlined edition of a
familiar laboratory text displays all of the
thoroughness and attention to detail that
have characterized previous editions of this
work. However. several modifications have
increased the usefulness of this hook
~ for un-
~-~~~~~~ ~~~~
dergraduate students. The current revision
incorporates a new chapter (Chapter 111)
entitled "Essential Laboratory Operations"
which presenta in a cohesive and easy to read
manner many exercises illustrating melting
point behavior, chromatography, distillation,
and speetmscopy. The material on chroma-
tography is particularly detailed and should
prove useful to undergraduates in both
chemistry and hiology. In Chapter 11, an ex-
cellent review of drying agents and methods
for drying common solvents is presented
along with detailed instructions for common
laboratory manipulations such as distillation,
recrystallization, and extraction. A mast
welcome revision is that this new edition
discusses the use of ground glassware and
provides many detailed illustrations of such
equipment including a simple rotary evapo-
rator and a spinning band distillation
column.
Many new experiments have been placed
in this edition. This reviewer particularly
enioved ,.
. . the svnthesis and traooine- of ben-
~ ~~
lyric, the hydnhvmt~cmuf styrene. the res-
oluticm of racemlc I -phvnylethylamine, the
tmr wf modified lith~um:dummum hydride.
and the alkylation of a representative ena-
mine. In addition, a new chapter on hetero-
cycles has now been added and provides
simple preparations of systems such es bar-
bituric acid and hydantoin. The syntheses of
quinoline by the Skraup method and of qui-