Cambridge Texts in Chemistry and Biochemistry – serie

Originally published in 1969, this book analyses the special properties of benzene and its derivatives, which give them their distinct aromatic character. The text first discusses the structure of benzene, including the light shed on it by physical methods and wave mechanics, and the structure of polycyclic benzenoid hydrocarbons and heterocyclic aromatic compounds. Aromaticity is defined as a function of the electronic structure of the molecule or ion in question and it is shown that this has important consequences in respect of bond lengths, resonance energies, electronic absorption spectra and induced ring currents. Final chapters discuss how far aromatic character and aromaticity are associated with non-benzenoid hydrocarbons and with more complex systems.

Originally published in 1973, this book is concerned with the principles upon which the versatility of electrophilic and nucleophilic attack on the enamine function and cycloaddition reactions are based. The discussion is illustrative rather than exhaustive, but a short bibliography contains a list of review articles from which references to the original literature can be followed. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in enamines and the development of chemistry.

In the natural world colour is obvious and its importance in advertising the presence of flowers to pollinators and in camouflage is well known. In most cases the property of colour is due to the presence in the tissues of natural pigments. But these pigments are of much greater importance than merely to give colour, e.g. the fundamental light-harvesting molecules of photosynthesis, the light-detecting molecules of vision and haemoglobin in the blood. This book describes the structures and properties of the main groups of natural pigments, their distribution in Nature, their biosynthesis and functions and their associated chemistry and biology. Industrial applications, and medical significance and uses, of certain groups of pigments are outlined and some ecological aspects of colour and pigmentation are touched upon. The book was written as a textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students and concentrates on the main features of each class of pigments and on general principles.

In the decade after this book first appeared in 1974, research involving organic photochemistry was prolific. In this updated and expanded 1986 edition the authors summarise those classes of reaction that best illustrate the types of photochemical behaviour commonly observed for simple organic molecules. The different products obtained from compounds subjected to thermal and photolytic activation are explained with the aid of appropriate diagrams and mechanistic schemes. Where necessary, these are backed up by simple energy level profiles. Thus, theory and empirical data are interwoven to provide a firm basis which is aided by the generous basic references at the end of each chapter.

This book contains an overview of complex formation by macrocyclic ligand systems. The study of macrocyclic chemistry represents a major area of activity which impinges on a range of other areas in both chemistry and biochemistry. The field has characteristically yielded many interesting and unusual compounds. The text discusses the structures and properties of macrocyclic compounds; the synthesis of macrocycles; polyether crown and related systems; metal-ion and molecular recognition (host-guest chemistry); as well as kinetic, thermodynamic and electrochemical aspects of a range of macrocyclic systems. A discussion of the different categories of naturally occurring macrocycles is also included. Specialist and non-specialist alike will find this a useful text. Apart from serving as a convenient reference for established workers in the field, it should also prove useful to new graduate students as well as to researchers from other areas who seek a general introduction to the subject. The topics discussed also provide a suitable basis for a senior undergraduate or graduate course in macrocyclic chemistry and inorganic complexes.

Alicyclic chemistry is a fundamentally important area of chemistry. It exemplifies the concepts of bonded and non-bonded interactions of atoms, and the ideas of molecular strain and their impact on the stability and reactivity of a range of molecular types. This book aims to present the experimental basis for these concepts. A survey of alicyclic chemistry must, however, also discuss the more important groups of natural products based on alicyclic structure and methods for their synthesis. In this second edition, first published in 1983, the coverage was extended to include examples of terpenes, sterols, prostaglandins and macrocycles. A discussion of spiro-compounds was also added. The book will be of use to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of organic chemistry and their teachers.

When W. E. Dasent's Inorganic Energetics first appeared in 1970 it rapidly established itself as an important teaching text. In this 1982 second edition, the author preserved the same basic structure and objectives of the earlier edition, although much of the material has been rewritten and the numerical data revised. Thermodynamics is commonly presented as a self-contained component of physical chemistry. This book uses the principles of thermodynamics to help elucidate the problems of what has too frequently been regarded as a quite separate discipline: inorganic chemistry. The bringing together in this way of two traditionally distinct branches of chemistry adds an important quantitative dimension to the more customary interpretations of inorganic reactivity in terms of chemical bonding theory. The author provides extensive tabulations of data designed to help students to make their own thermodynamic analyses of inorganic reactions which are not specifically discussed. S.I units are used throughout.

An important part of inorganic chemistry is the study of the behaviour of chemical elements and their compounds. If this behaviour is to be explained with any confidence, it needs first to be described in quantitative language. Thermodynamics provides such a language, and Dr Johnson's 1982 book is concerned with the theoretical explanations that become possible after the translation into thermodynamic language has taken place. This book will continue to be of interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of chemistry, as well as teachers of chemistry in both schools and universities.

The halogens, through themselves simple inorganic molecules, react with a wide range of organic compounds, and in doing so provide new compounds in great variety and of immense practical and theoretical importance. The modes of these reactions are complex, often involving fleeting, unstable intermediates. In this 1976 book, Professor de la Mare shows how those halogenations involving the whole gamut of unsaturated organic molecules can be linked through considering them as reactions involving the development of carbocationic centres which develop through electrophilic attack by halogen and then determine the fate of the resulting intermediate. Introductory chapters describe the properties of the various halogens and their simple derivatives, and put the reactions into the context of mechanistic physical-organic chemistry in general, and of electrophilic additions and substitutions in particular. Subsequent chapters describe the reactions of the individual halogens, whilst applications to useful synthetic processes are noted.

Originally published in 1977, this book covers in a comprehensive manner the detailed kinetic analysis of a number of different enzyme models. Each kinetic equation is developed in a stepwise fashion so that the reader can more easily follow the mathematical procedure. However, more advanced subjects are also introduced and the book contains sections on coupled enzyme systems, oscillatory kinetics, computer simulation of biochemical systems and statistical analysis of enzyme kinetic data. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in enzyme kinetics and the development of biochemistry.

This introductory textbook was first published in 1978. It was originally intended primarily for students who wanted to obtain a simplified picture of what viruses are like and how they can multiply and cause disease. Today, it still provides a general overall picture of virology, emphasising the underlying fundamental biochemical principles rather than detailing the complexities of different viruses or clinical problems. The mechanisms of replication and the variety of structures found in viruses are dealt with from a comparative standpoint. A working knowledge of proteins, nucleic acids and lipids is assumed.

First published in 1979 as the second edition of a 1972 original, this textbook provides a systematic account of an important area of organic chemistry - that of cycloadditions and molecular rearrangements. The necessary theoretical background for understanding these reactions is presented in non-mathematical form and various alternative approaches to the theory are compared. The core of the book is a descriptive account of various types of cycloaddition and rearrangement reactions. The synthetic importance of these reactions is emphasised and, by providing the mechanistic background, the book demonstrates to the reader the relationship between the different types of reactions. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in organic chemistry.

This 1981 introduction to the chemistry of a single element, phosphorus, covers many of the major themes of chemistry. Important in inorganic and organic chemistry and in biochemistry, phosphorus is also of considerable economic significance and plays a vital role in the biosphere. By presenting a detailed treatment of selected topics, this book provides a concise account of phosphorus chemistry suitable for anyone with an interest in the field. The book provides a survey of phosphorus compounds by structural and bond types, a review of physical methods in phosphorus chemistry, a review of basicity and co-ordination chemistry of phosphorus donors, a discussion of phosphorus in its group, and a chapter on reagents containing phosphorus in general chemistry. A critical bibliography introduces the reader to the advanced literature. S. I. Units are used throughout, but c.g.s units are also given when appropriate.

This book was first published in 1973. The Hammett equation is used for the elucidation of intramolecular interactions, electronic or steric, and for examination of the influence of substituents on rates or positions of equilibrium of organic reactions. It is used in the investigation of reaction mechanisms, where it is often combined with other physiochemical techniques, providing a consistent and convincing rationale of many reaction patterns. This book was written to provide senior undergraduates and first-year graduate students with a guide to the implications of these properties. Each chapter concludes with a series of problems, all drawn from research papers.

Inorganic Substances is complementary in its approach to conventional inorganic chemistry textbooks. Written with the undergraduate in mind, it gives an introduction to descriptive inorganic chemistry, a systematic survey of the chemistry of the elements according to the Periodic Classification. In this way, the reader acquires a firm grasp of the principles which underlie which inorganic substances can be made, their preparations, structures, chemical reactions and physical properties. The book presents theory as a background to the facts of inorganic chemistry, rather than as an end in itself. It does not concentrate on structural detail or reaction mechanisms but stresses the interplay between thermodynamic and kinetic considerations in understanding stability. The ways in which the various theories of structure and bonding are related are thoroughly dealt with throughout. The approach of this book makes it a useful companion to any intermediate inorganic chemistry course. It should also be useful to other science students, especially earth and material scientists who need a good grounding in modern inorganic chemistry.