Purification of Laboratory Chemicals, Fourth Edition. By W. L. F. Armarego

This monograph remains the bible for practising chemists wishing to know how to dry solvents or purify commercially available laboratory chemicals. The latest edition is organised into five chapters, the first two of which describe in revised form, common physical techniques and chemical methods in purification, including procedures for specific classes of organic compounds. Later chapters deal with purification of an increased number of individual organic, and inorganic and metal-organic compounds, and there is a greatly expanded section with 400 entries on biochemicals and related compounds that will surely widen the appeal of the reference work.

The authors have made good use of computerised data bases for up to date information and have placed a noticeable emphasis on safety. With a total of 5700 entries, naming has become a significant issue that has not been fully addressed in this revision. For example, (CH₃)₃SiCl, (CH₃)₃SiBr and (CH₃)₃SiN₃ are recorded under trimethyl chlorosilane, bromo trimethylsilane and trimethylsilyl azide, respectively. However, such problems are largely overcome by cross referencing. A reduction in the font size has enabled this excellent work to be presented in an attractive single volume. It is of manageable size and, like its forebears, will be the most commonly used reference book in any chemical or biochemical laboratory.