Inorganic andOrganometallicPolymers

By V. Chandra-

sekhar

Springer, 2005,

hardcover,

338 pages,

53,45 s, ISBN:

3-540-22574-9

The words polymer and macromole-

cule are intimately tied to the notion

of endless chains of carbon atoms, or

at least with distinctly ‘‘organic’’

compounds. Taken at face value, this

‘‘definition’’ is not even met by such

familiar bio-macromolecules as RNA

and DNA. Nucleic acid chains are held

together by phosphate moieties that

already ‘‘ooze’’ an inorganic flavour.

Yet it means to scratch only the surface,

and to scratch it barely, if one did not

take the exploration further than the

stark obvious. Just how far the realm of

inorganic – and organometallic, to

introduce another in-between category

– polymers has expanded is the subject

matter of this new book.

Inorganic and Organometallic Poly-

mers is an advanced textbook targeting

advanced undergraduate and postgrad-

uate students, and presumably also

full-grown chemists from the fields of

macromolecular and inorganic chem-

istry. The size of the well-written book

is suitable for a one-semester lecture/

course on the topic. Chapter 1 on

‘‘problems and prospects’’ of the field

defines the scope of the book, chapter 2

gives a ‘‘brief survey’’ on the well-

acquainted organic polymers. From

chapter 3 onwards, the remaining three-

quarters of the book are devoted to

inorganic polymers in the strict sense.

Phosphazene polymers take a promi-

nent position as they appear both in

chapters 3 and 4. Phosphorous comes

back in chapter 5 on polymers contain-

ing P, B and S, too. In chapter 6 the

attention is shifted to the polysiloxax-

anes. Silicon’s willingness to form

polymeric compounds is explored

further in chapter 7 on polysilanes and

other Si-containing polymers. The con-

cluding 8th chapter is dedicated to the

the other half of the book’s title,

organometallic polymers.

DNA and RNA, though meeting the

criteria of inorganic polymers, are too

deeply engrained in the biochemical

realm to get any mentioning in this

book. Naturally occuring silicon poly-

mers such as the silica molecules of

certain invertebrate animals and dia-

tom algae are beyond the scope of at

least this 1st edition, too.

The author has decided to concentrate

on synthetic inorganic and organo-

metallic polymers. Analytical aspects

get mentioned (for example, we find a

section on 31P NMR-spectroscopy) but

the discussion is clearly biased towards

synthetic aspects. The chapter on

organometallic polymers overlaps with

‘‘ordinary’’ organometallic chemistry,

so readers with a background in this

discipline will have no difficulties

whatsoever to ‘‘dive into’’ Dr. Chan-

drasekhar’s treatment. The statement

that readers will not encounter diffi-

culties applies to the book as such. The

entire textbook is written in an exceed-

ingly readable style, which makes

learing about this interesting subject a

pleasure. The author is without doubt a

skilled teacher and textbook writer

who knows as much about presenting

his topic as he knows about the topic as

such. As a 1st edition, it is a truly

impressive achievement. I would be

surprised if this truly excellent new text

did not prove to be a nucleus of

crystallization that is going to substan-

tially stimulate its readers and will

precipitate actual research projects.

The book is exquisitely produced.

Given the quality that it boasts it is

certainly not overpriced. The index is

rather brief, though, and should profit

from some extending in later editions.

Students, who are a major target

group and short on money throughout

the world, would undoubtedly love to

see a more affordable paperback edi-

tion. As ‘‘Inorganic and Organometal-

lic Polymers’’ clearly has got the

potential to become a standard, if

not a classic, the publisher should be

well-advised to ponder this option. The

book is a clear must-have for all

libraries featuring academic chemistry

literature.

Thomas Lazar

Paderborn (Germany)

Macromol. Chem. Phys. 2006, 207, 911 � 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Book Review DOI: 10.1002/macp.200600113 911