Molecular mechanics

Molecular structure: understanding steric and electronic effects from molecular mechanics

Norman Allinger

Hoboken, New Jersey, US: John Wiley & Sons 2010 |356pp |£66.95 (HB)

ISBN 9780470195574

Reviewed by Robert Best

This book presents a wide-ranging overview of the applications of molecular mechanics (MM) in the area of organic chemistry. Although MM has made an impact in other areas (eg biomolecules) and these were apparently considered for inclusion, it is clear from this work that the scope of organic chemistry applications merits a volume of its own.

The book starts from a historical perspective of experimental methods for analysing molecular structure, going on to give an overview of computational and theoretical methods for determining electronic structure. The field of molecular mechanics is then progressively developed, beginning with the simplest organic molecules, alkanes and alkenes. Subsequent chapters cover topics including conjugated systems, various chemical effects on structure and bonding, carbohydrates, crystal structure calculations, hydrogen bonding and heats of formation.

The book is written in an informal style, designed to appeal to the non-specialist, and should be accessible to anybody with a background in chemistry. As such, it is probably of most value to users of MM programs who would like to understand more about the calculations being performed, but it does not go into the level of detail that would be expected by a developer of MM methods.

There are a number of minor typographical errors in both text and equations that will hopefully be corrected in a revised edition.

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