The elements in group 17 (VIlA) of the periodic table of elements-fluorine (F), chlorine (CI), bromine (Br), and iodine (I)-were designated by Berzelius as "halogens" (Greek hals, sea salt; gennao, I beget) because of their propensity to form salts. In this first of the two volumes of Bio- chemistry of the Halogens, the biochemistry of the elemental halogens and inorganic halides is reviewed. Discovery, properties, and biochemistry of the elemental halogens are reviewed first (Chapter 1). This is followed by a review of the developments in the various areas of inorganic halide biochemistry...

Biochemistry of Halogenated Organic Compounds has been written as a general reference source for researchers in several related areas, including organic chemists, medicinal chemists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, and medical researchers. The development of halogenated compounds as medicinal agents and pharmacological tools and the fascinating biochemi- cal processes that have been discovered and studied using these analogues have generated extremely active areas of research and an enormous volume of literature. Thus, halogenated organic compounds pervade every aspect of biochemistry, a fact...