Book Received

Molecules 2000, 5, 1530-1531

molecules
ISSN 1420-3049
© 2000 by MDPI
http://www.mdpi.org

Book Received*

Synthetic Organic Sonochemistry. By Jean-Louis Luche (Université de Savoie-ESIGEL, Le Bourget du Lac, France). Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers (http://www.wkap.nl/book.htm/0-306-45916-7). September 1998, 444 pp. Hardbound, NLG 235.00 / USD 115.00 / GBP 74.75. ISBN 0-306-45916-7

Received: 22 December 2000

The use of ultrasound in chemistry – sonochemistry – has grown spectacularly in recent years, resulting in a significant body of empirical research. This timely volume brings together the work and perspectives of theoreticians and acousticians, whose interest is centered on physical aspects, and of synthetic chemists, who need guidelines to successfully apply fundamental principles.

The text begins with a theoretical introduction hat summarizes the key physical principles of sonochemistry, keeping mathematics to a minimum. Seubseuqnet chapters describe the major characteristics of sonochemistry for solutions and for biphasic, catalytic, and electyrochemical syst6ems with the aim of elucidating the state of the art and of identifying major points for future study.

Highlights of Synthetic Organic Sonochemistry include:

A selection of experimental procedures that illustrate important facets of ultrasound-mediated organic synthesis
A description of the relevant laboratory equipment with helpful suggestions on proper use, and
A valuable concluding section that delineates the successes of sonochemistry, less developed areas requiring further research, and possible links with other `new chemistries'.

What this text does significantly better than any other competing text is to render sonochemistry as a technically simple, easily performed method that greatly enhances organic synthesis, even in industrial applications. For this reason, the book will be a welcome addition to the reference shelves of academic and industrial researachers and advanced-level students in organic and physcial chemistry, synthesis and mechanistic studies, acoustics, and high-energy processes.

*Editor's Note: The brief summary and the contents of the books are reported as provided by the author or the publishers. Authors and publishers are encouraged to send review copies of their recent books of potential interest to readers of Molecules to the Editor-in-Chief (Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, MDPI, Saengergasse 25, CH-4054 Basel, Switzerland. Tel. +41 79 322 3379, Fax +41 61 302 8918, E-mail: [email protected]). Some books will be offered to the scholarly community for the purpose of preparing full-length reviews.