The world is not at equilibrium, and the events that give vitality and movement are transitions towards equilibrium from the present state of imbalance. This text examines the chemical transformations that often contribute fundamentally to this process. The book begins with a basic introduction to the kinetics of simple and complex reaction systems in solution. It goes on to present a treatment of the more advanced topics such as solvent effects, fast reaction techniques, and heterogeneous liquid-liquid two-phase systems. An overview of currently active and important research areas in...

Acids and bases are ubiquitous in chemistry. Our understanding of them, however, is dominated by their behaviour in water. Transfer to non-aqueous solvents leads to profound changes in acid-base strengths and to the rates and equilibria of many processes: for example, synthetic reactions involving acids, bases and nucleophiles; isolation of pharmaceutical actives through salt formation; formation of zwitter- ions in amino acids; and chromatographic separation of substrates. This book seeks to enhance our understanding of acids and bases by reviewing and analysing their behaviour in...