2nd ed. – CRC Press, 2004. – 2896 p.
The second edition of the Handbook of Organic Photochemistry and Photobiology has sought to give extensive coverage within the broad area of organic photochemistry and photobiology. Although the cover is not encyclopedic, the editors have ensured that the articles included will give a good idea of the advances that are being made within the various subject headings. The authors who have contributed are all inteational authorities at the forefront of their research areas and they all have produced wellwritten articles that are extensively referenced and should be of value to the beginner or to the specialist.
From its humble beginnings more than a century ago organic photochemistry has become an interdisciplinary science. In its early days the studies could only examine what happened on the exposure of organic molecules to light. Now, with the added sophistication of photophysics, the breadth of our understanding has increased dramatically. Our knowledge of what can be achieved from a given reaction has increased dramatically over the last decade. This has led us to situations where control can be exercised on the outcome of many photoprocesses. Many of the articles included in this Handbook deal with these new methods such as photoelectron transfer, irradiation of compounds in the solid, as crystals or contained with supramolecular cages. All of these techniques have changed the specificity of the reactions being studied. The use of chiral auxiliaries has also provided paths to molecules with high enantio or diastereoselectivity. All of these techniques provide more ammunition to the synthetic organic chemist. Indeed there is every hope that the new techniques will open more doors to the development of reactions that will provide new paths to molecules of biological and pharmacological interest.
Such a handbook could not have been compiled without the good will and cooperation of all the contributors and I am truly indebted to everyone who has given of their valuable time in writing for this text. I express my sincere thanks to Professor Francesco Lenci for his unstinting help in identifying and securing manuscripts from the authors for the photobiology section. I would also like to thank the members of the editorial staff at CRC Press for their great help and encouragement throughout the compilation of this magnum opus.
The second edition of the Handbook of Organic Photochemistry and Photobiology has sought to give extensive coverage within the broad area of organic photochemistry and photobiology. Although the cover is not encyclopedic, the editors have ensured that the articles included will give a good idea of the advances that are being made within the various subject headings. The authors who have contributed are all inteational authorities at the forefront of their research areas and they all have produced wellwritten articles that are extensively referenced and should be of value to the beginner or to the specialist.
From its humble beginnings more than a century ago organic photochemistry has become an interdisciplinary science. In its early days the studies could only examine what happened on the exposure of organic molecules to light. Now, with the added sophistication of photophysics, the breadth of our understanding has increased dramatically. Our knowledge of what can be achieved from a given reaction has increased dramatically over the last decade. This has led us to situations where control can be exercised on the outcome of many photoprocesses. Many of the articles included in this Handbook deal with these new methods such as photoelectron transfer, irradiation of compounds in the solid, as crystals or contained with supramolecular cages. All of these techniques have changed the specificity of the reactions being studied. The use of chiral auxiliaries has also provided paths to molecules with high enantio or diastereoselectivity. All of these techniques provide more ammunition to the synthetic organic chemist. Indeed there is every hope that the new techniques will open more doors to the development of reactions that will provide new paths to molecules of biological and pharmacological interest.
Such a handbook could not have been compiled without the good will and cooperation of all the contributors and I am truly indebted to everyone who has given of their valuable time in writing for this text. I express my sincere thanks to Professor Francesco Lenci for his unstinting help in identifying and securing manuscripts from the authors for the photobiology section. I would also like to thank the members of the editorial staff at CRC Press for their great help and encouragement throughout the compilation of this magnum opus.