The Arrangement of Atoms in Space
Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences Series

Awarded the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 for his work on chemical dynamics and on osmotic pressure in solutions, the Dutch scientist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (1852?1911) was also a pioneer in the field of stereochemistry - the three-dimensional analysis of chemical structures. This 1898 publication is based on the revised and expanded German translation of his Dix années dans l'histoire d'une théorie (1887), itself an updated version of his major work La chimie dans l'espace (1875). Translated and edited by the English chemist Arnold Eiloart, it covers the stereochemistry of carbon and nitrogen compounds, and contains an appendix on inorganic compounds by the Swiss chemist Alfred Werner (another future recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry). Using experimental results, van 't Hoff shows how the varying spatial arrangement of similar compounds leads to differing chemical and optical behaviour.

Preface to the first edition; Preface to the second edition; Introduction; Part I. Stereochemistry of Carbon: 1. The asymmetric carbon atom; 2. Division of the inactive mixture; 3. Compounds with several asymmetric carbon atoms; 4. Determination of the position of the radicals in stereomers; 5. The unsaturated carbon compounds; 6. Ring formation; 7. Numerical value of the rotatory power; Part II. Stereochemistry of Nitrogen Compounds; Appendix; Index.