Journal of Chromatography, 301 (1984) 497498 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

CHROM. 17,096

Book Review

Ultrahigh resolution chromatography (ACS Symposium Series, 250), edited by S. Ahuja, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1984, VIII + 231 pp., price US$ 44.95 (U.S.A. and Canada), US$ 53.95 (rest of world), ISBN O- 8412-0835-2.

The work consists of thirteen contributions to a symposium sponsored by the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the American Chemical Society at their 185th meeting at Seattle, WA, in March 1983.

The introductory chapter entitled “Multiple Pathways to Ultrahigh Resolution Chromatography” is by the editor (and chairman of the new Chromatography and Separation Chemistry Subdivision of the ACS) and highlights the principal areas of development, particularly with regard to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas-liquid chromatography (GLC), and supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) which form the basis of the work.

Giddings (Chapter 2) extends his earlier statistical model of overlap with an examination of a series of computer-simulated chromatograms to determine the va- lidity of a procedure for calculating the number of randomly distributed components. Also Chapter 12 is of a mathematical nature and considers super resolution as the ability to detect the presence of two or more components when their elution times fall within two standard peak widths of one another. The use of numerical decon- volution is discussed.

Constraints, Compromises and Prospects forms the third chapter and is the first of four, dealing with various aspects of gas chromatography, which by max- imisation leads to higher resolution and performance. Jennings indicates the effect of a greater number of theoretical plates and the interrelated variation of resolution, peak capacity and separation factor and concludes with a number of examples of separations using bonded fused silica columns of increasing polar character. The interaction of these various parameters is discussed in Chapter 4, while the reduction of column diameter and the use of small-volume thermal conductivity detectors for capillary chromatography follows in Chapters 5 and 6.

The three chapters on liquid chromatography are introduced by one on selec- tivity that commences with the historical development of rapid HPLC separations and considers sorbent, solvent and carrier selectivity. A review of narrow-bore packed columns (Chapter 8) indicates that their rapid development has been due to reduced solvent use while attaining considerable resolution and being instrumentally com- patible with mass spectrometers with the possibility of use with new detectors that may become available.

The separation of complex mixtures using micro HPLC is briefly described in Chapter 9 with epoxy resin, aqueous extracts and polychlorobiphenyls being shown in examples taken from the authors’ earlier works.

Chapters 10 and 11 consider SFC, the first chapter indicating the desirability

498 BOOK REVIEWS

of using capillary columns and the second the application of carbon dioxide as sol- vent.

The final chapter reviews some uses of both capillary GLC and microbore HPLC in the chemical industry. The desire for low detection limits and high reso- lution are discussed and the necessity for further improvements in technique to allow maximum usage are evident.

The work generally consists of a series of fine, concise reviews which would readily provide an insight to ultrahigh resolution techniques to any who have had general chromatography experience. While a rigorous nomenclature has not been adopted with chromatography, it is a little unfortunate that in various chapters the same symbols are used for different quantities. The work is recommended as a worthy acquisition to the book shelves of most general and industrial chromatographers.

Kensington (Australia) J. K. HAKEN

Journal of Chromatography, 301 (1984) 498499 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands

CHROM. 17,025

Book Review

Chromatography of antibiotics - Second, completely revised edition, by G. H. Wag- man and M. J. Weinstein, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Oxford, New York, Tokyo, 1984, XVIII + 504 pp., price Dfl. 295.00, US$ 125.50, ISBN 0-444-42007-X.

More than a decade elapsed between the first and this second edition of the “antibioticist’s vade mecum”, as it was called by the authors. Two important differ- ences can be seen on comparing the two editions: the size of the book has more than doubled (from 238 to 504 pp.) and the price has increased 4.5-fold (from Dfl. 65 to 295)!

Within the decade between the two editions hundreds of new natural anti- biotics (e.g., novel 3-lactams and aminoglycosides and several new structural types) have been discovered and hundreds of semi-synthetic ones (e.g., penicillins, cephalo- sporins and rifamycins) have been prepared. Also, new and more sophisticated tech- niques have been developed in analytical and preparative chromatography. One of these which has been refined for rapid and precise determination and identification is high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Both facts are substantially reflected in this book.

The structure of the book is similar to that of the first edition. In the first section, “Chromatography of antibiotics”, a short chapter on the chromatographic classification of antibiotics was enriched with several recent data concerning the best known paper (PC), thin-layer (TLC) and gas chromatographic (GC) systems. An- other short chapter, also extended, on detection methods emphasizes bioautography in PC and TLC.

The main section of the volume contains chromatographic data of antibiotics