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Book ReviewPublished online in Wiley Online Library: 9 September 2011
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/aoc.1840
Book Review
EDITED BY SIMON ALDRIDGE AND ANTHONY J. DOWNS
The Group 13 Metals Aluminium, Gallium, Indium and Thallium:Chemical Patterns and Peculiarities
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2011, 726 pages
price price £160.00/¤192.00 (hardcover)ISBN 978-0-470-68191-6
The heavier group 13 elementshave long been a source of fascina-tion and chemical utility and formone of the most widely exploredregions of the periodic table. Thestated aim of The Group 13 Met-als, Aluminium, Gallium, Indium andThallium: Chemical Patterns and Pe-culiarities is to provide a contem-porary perspective on the currentstate of the art with regard tothe inorganic, organometallic andsolid state chemistry of the ele-
ments below boron. As such, this work may be viewed as anupdate of the 1993 book The Chemistry of Aluminium, Gallium,Indium and Thallium, which was also edited by Tony Downs. Whilethis earlier volume provided a great deal of core background detailon the basic chemistry of these elements, the current text aimsprimarily to cover advances described in the primary literaturethat have appeared in the subsequent two decades. Since publi-cation, the earlier book has become a standard reference point forresearchers addressing the chemistry of the group 13 elementsand I feel that the current work should also be warmly welcomed.
The text places the range of chemistries described firmly intothe 21st century and comprises 11 separate specialised chapters,which are authored, in most cases, by some of the prime movers inthe specific research areas described. Although, as with any multi-contributor volume, the style of presentation is a little inconsistent,
the text is handsomely presented and attractively and clearlyillustrated throughout. The topics covered reflect much of themajor progress in group 13 chemistry over the last quarter of acentury. Although an initial emphasis is given to chemical advancesin the common (+3) group oxidation state, particular prominenceis given to organometallic and inorganic species which containgroup 13 elements in lower (+1 or +2) or intermediate oxidationstates. Accounting for almost 250 pages of the volume, this lattercoverage is broken down into four separate chapters and, althoughthere is some overlap between the individual cases described, willprovide the perfect introduction to any new worker in the fieldand an invaluable resource for established researchers. Perhapsreflecting the primary interests of the editors, considerably lessspace and a more narrow treatment is afforded to solid state andbiological aspects of the group 13 elements. I feel that this volumewill, as a result, be a less attractive purchase for researchers in thesespecific areas. Discussion of the use of group 13 species in organicsynthesis is also relegated to a single 50-page chapter. Given thepotential breadth of topics available, the casual reader may thusbe left with a slightly unbalanced view of the current directionsof research in group 13 chemistry. This having been said, and asthe title suggests, the emphasis is very much upon highlightingthe behaviour and particular ‘peculiarities’ of the entire seriesof elements. Although I am personally somewhat biased, I amin full agreement with the editors that this ambition is bestserved from an inorganic and structural standpoint rather thanas a compendium of applications-based topics. For this reason,I would recommend this book wholeheartedly to any inorganicor organometallic chemist with a fundamental interest in thisfascinating and varied series of elements.
Mike HillDepartment of Chemistry University of Bath, UK
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2011, 25, 783 Copyright c© 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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