Fabien Durola, CNRS—Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, University of Bordeaux, France, reviews the book Fragments of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes by Marina A. Petrukhina and Lawrence T. Scott.
Every organic chemist was at one time, at least during his early years, convinced that aromatic molecules are by definition absolutely flat, writes Durola. If you still have this wrong idea in your mind, this is one of the books that you need to read to discover the exciting and promising science of these non-conformist twisted aromatic molecules.
The authors have gathered relevant contributions from several research groups who can be considered as leaders in the field of curved polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In contrast to the usual kinds of reviews published in journals, this book tells the complete scientific stories: what was the initial idea, how things worked out or not, what are the prospects or the next alternative strategies. For that reason, these last chapters on synthetic aspects are, in her opinion, to be commended not only to chemists active in this very specific field, but also to every organic chemist who is interested in strategies of multistep syntheses and such brain-teasing scientific struggles. Generally speaking, even non-specialists working in that domain of organic chemistry would probably appreciate reading this book, but she would not recommend it to beginners in organic chemistry, who might be confused rather than informed by these exotic results.
The use of color would have been a great help towards a better understanding and one might also regret the occurrence of much repetition in the introductions of several chapters, for example, in the definitions of carbon nanotube geometries, although that might be useful if individual chapters are read in isolation.
In conclusion, unlike the sad-looking young lady on the cover, who does not seem to be greatly motivated by the scientific tour de force that she is about to accomplish, Durola really appreciated reading Fragments of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes, and now looks forward impatiently to a future second edition, which she hopes will incorporate new chapters covering the first successful syntheses of aromatic belts that she expects to appear soon in the literature.
Read the full review at:
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51(28), 6820.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201202888 
Fragments of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes: Designed Synthesis, Unusual Reactions, and Coordination Chemistry
,
Marina A. Petrukhina, Lawrence T. Scott,
John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, USA, 2011.
ISBN: 978-0-470-56908-5
Also of interest:
- ChemistrtyViews.org Video: L. Scott and M. Petrukhina on Fullerene Fragments
The authors discuss their new book, which reflects upon the intense and rapidly growing interest in open geodesic polyaromatic molecules, specifically focusing on their synthesis and reactivity in metal binding reactions
