Springer Advanced Texts in Chemistry – serie

New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. Some fields like basic biochemistry, organic reaction mechanisms, and chemical thermodynamics are well represented by many excellent texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the graduate level, suffer from a real lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research which is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and persuade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instructive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In some cases the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses.

New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. Some fields such as basic biochemistry, organic re action mechanisms, and chemical thermodynamics are weil represented by many excellent texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the graduate level, suffer from a real lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research that is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and persuade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instruc­ tive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In so me cases the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses.

Carbohydrates are the most widely distributed naturally-occurring organic compounds on Earth. They make up much of our food, clothing and shelter, and are as vital to national economies as they are to our diet. This book is the first broad treatment of carbohydrate chemistry in many years, and presents the structures, reactions, modifications, and properties of carbohydrates. Woven throughout the text are discussions of biological properties of carbohydrates, their industrial applications, and the history of the field of carbohydrate chemistry. Written for students as well as practicing scientists, this text/reference will be of interest to a wide range of disciplines influenced by carbohydrates: biochemistry, chemistry, food and nutrition, microbiology, pharmacology, and medicine.

Energy Transduction in Biological Membranes was primarily designed for graduate courses in bioenergetics. Not only does it discuss basic principles and concepts central to modern membrane biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, but also (1) the components and pathways for electron transport and hydrogen ion translocation, and (2) the utilization of electrochemical ion gradients. The book is unique in presenting a comparative treatment of respiratory and photosynthetic energy transduction, and in using protein sequence data coupled with physical concepts to discuss the mechanisms of energy transducing proteins.

New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. So me fields such as basic biochemistry, organic reaction mechanisms, weIl represented by many excellent and chemical thermodynamics are texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the graduate level, suffer from areal lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research that is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and per suade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instructive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochem­ istry. In some cases the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses. Charles R. Cantor vii Preface to the Third Edition It was over 100 years ago that Emil Fischer postulated his ingenious "lock-and-key" principle, whieh was subsequently applied to the devel­ opment of a modern theory of enzyme catalysis.

New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. Some fields such as basic biochemistry, organic re action mechanisms, and chemical thermodynamics are weil represented by many excellent texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the graduate level, suffer from a real lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research that is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and persuade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instruc­ tive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In so me cases the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses.

Carbohydrates are the most widely distributed naturally-occurring organic compounds on Earth. They make up much of our food, clothing and shelter, and are as vital to national economies as they are to our diet. This book is the first broad treatment of carbohydrate chemistry in many years, and presents the structures, reactions, modifications, and properties of carbohydrates. Woven throughout the text are discussions of biological properties of carbohydrates, their industrial applications, and the history of the field of carbohydrate chemistry. Written for students as well as practicing scientists, this text/reference will be of interest to a wide range of disciplines influenced by carbohydrates: biochemistry, chemistry, food and nutrition, microbiology, pharmacology, and medicine.

New textbooks at all levels of chemistry appear with great regularity. Some fields like basic biochemistry, organic reaction mechanisms, and chemical thermody­ namics are well represented by many excellent texts, and new or revised editions are published sufficiently often to keep up with progress in research. However, some areas of chemistry, especially many of those taught at the graduate level, suffer from a real lack of up-to-date textbooks. The most serious needs occur in fields that are rapidly changing. Textbooks in these subjects usually have to be written by scientists actually involved in the research which is advancing the field. It is not often easy to persuade such individuals to set time aside to help spread the knowledge they have accumulated. Our goal, in this series, is to pinpoint areas of chemistry where recent progress has outpaced what is covered in any available textbooks, and then seek out and persuade experts in these fields to produce relatively concise but instructive introductions to their fields. These should serve the needs of one semester or one quarter graduate courses in chemistry and biochemistry. In some cases, the availability of texts in active research areas should help stimulate the creation of new courses. New York, New York CHARLES R. CANTOR Preface This book is not a traditional quantum chemistry textbook. Instead, it represents a concept that has evolved from teaching graduate courses in quantum chemistry over a number of years, and encountering students with diverse backgrounds.