Book reviews

Aminophosphonic and aminophosphinic acids:chemistry and biological activityValery P. Kukhar and Harry R. Hudson (eds)John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, 2000xxv� 634 pages. £175ISBN 0-471-89149-5

This is a substantial and authoritative work that will be ofkeen interest to pharmaceutical and organophosphoruschemists as well as to synthetic and structural chemistsworking in this field. The major part of the book coversthe natural occurrence, synthesis, asymmetric synthesis,biological properties, separation, characterization andstructural data of aminophosphonic acids, aminophos-phinic acids and related peptide analogues. The last one-third reviews applications in the fields of agrochemicalsand medicine, including drug development aspects. Eachof the 18 chapters is divided into headed sections,making it easy to locate areas of specific interest.

Chapter 1, on Naturally Occurring Aminophosphonicand Aminophosphinic Acids (APAs), provides goodcoverage of 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid and relatedcompounds as well as phosphonopeptides. There are alsosections on the biosynthesis, biodegradation and originof APAs. The next five chapters are comprehensive intheir coverage of the synthesis ofa-, b- and !-APAs,phosphorylated side-chain APAs and peptide derivatives,and of asymmetric synthesis. There are five chapters onphysical methods, including column chromatography,NMR, X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry andGC–MS, and determination of the stability constants ofmetal complexes. The chapter on NMR spectroscopydiscusses the potential of the technique for a series ofa-N-arylamino-a-arylmethanephosphonic esters. Model-ling studies are included in the NMR and stabilityconstant chapters. The chapter on the use of APAs asagrochemicals includes a survey of their potentialapplications. There are sections on plant-growth regula-tors, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. There arefive chapters on biological activities and their role asinhibitors. The metabolic processes and mode ofinhibition involved are given due attention and theiruses as neuroactive inhibitors are covered in some detail.Drug development is included in the chapter covering therole and design of APAs as transition-state analogueinhibitors for proteolytic enzymes. This is followed by aseparate chapter on the design and synthesis of HIVprotease inhibitors. Two chapters on the potentialapplication of APAs as antithrombic agents andcollagenase inhibitors complete the biological section.

There are plenty of clear structural diagrams andreaction schemes which will make this book attractive tochemists. There are also some useful figures showing

spectra and modelling results — the latter including 16coloured plates. The excellent organization of the text,using sub-headings together with contents lists andindexes, facilitates the location of the comprehensivecollection of information gathered from over 2300references. The book should assist and encourage thedevelopment of the pharmaceutical applications oforganophosphorus compounds. It will be useful forintroducing new workers to these fields, as well asoccupying an important place on many reference book-shelves.

J. C. TEBBY

Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK

Pills, potions and poisons: how medicines andother drugs workT. Stone and G. DarlingtonOxford University Press, Oxford, 2000xvi � 476 pages. £18.99ISBN 0-19-850403-9

This book, written by a pharmacologist and a physician/rheumatologist, will prove understandable even to thosewithout a medical or scientific background. For chemiststhe absence of structural formulae is restrictive, but manypossibly unfamiliar words are defined in the glossary.

The book is divided into 26 chapters and a primeobjective is to explain the course/origin of many medicalconditions and the way in which both natural andsynthetic drugs can prove beneficial if not curative. Theintroductory chapter explains the use of brand names fordrugs, many of which are cited in the index, and the finalchapter is devoted to the development of new drugs. Ineach chapter references are made to individuals whoinitiated or made significant contributions to the devel-opment of individual drugs and studied the mechanism oftheir action; they include quite a number of Nobel prizewinners. Many useful diagrams are included to illustrate,for example, the role of the chemical transmitteracetylcholine and the mechanism of potential antiviraldrugs. At the end of chapters concerned with, for

APPLIED ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRYAppl. Organometal. Chem.14, 514–515 (2000)

Copyright# 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.