Volume 45 in the highly successful series Handbook of Porphyrin Science presents three very informative chapters of significant topical interest to researchers in the broad field of porphyrin science. The first chapter (Chapter 215) systematically describes in great detail the many synthetic methods utilized for the preparation of both metal-free and metallo-phthalocyanines. In the second chapter (Chapter 216), new developments in the synthesis, structure, and circular dichroism of chiral porphyrin systems are discussed in depth. The third and final chapter in this volume (Chapter 217) describes up-to-date advances in the use of computational methodology for the design and synthesis of functionally useful tetrapyrroles such as phthalocyanines, porphyrins and 9. The volume concludes with a useful comprehensive index.The overall emphasis of Volume 45 of the Handbook of Porphyrin Science series, centers on synthetic methodology and processes, with a diversion in Chapter 217 to include predictive computational methodology, and in Chapter 216 to address the importance of chirality in tetrapyrrole systems. All three chapters will be of interest to researchers in the field and should provide powerful tools for anyone involved in the chemistry of phthalocyanines, porphyrins and related systems.

Biochemical Pathways and Environmental Responses in Plants, Part A, Volume 676 in the Methods in Enzymology series highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics such as Structure, function, and engineering of plant polyketide synthases, A sensitive LC-MS/MS assay for enzymatic characterization of methylthioalkylmalate synthase involved in glucosinolate side-chain elongation, Assaying formate-tetrahydrofolate ligase with monoglutamylated and polyglutamylated substrates using a fluorescence-HPLC based assay, An Approach to Nearest Neighbor Analysis of Pigmented Protein Complexes by Using Chemical Crosslinking in Combination with Mass Spectrometry, and much more. Other chapters cover Biochemical characterization of plant aromatic aminotransferases, Functional Analysis of Phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PMT) in Plants and Parasites, A structure-guided computational screening approach for predicting plant enzyme-metabolite interactions, Plant metacaspase: an example of microcrystal structure determination and analysis, Biocatalytic system for comparative assessment of functional association of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases with their redox partners, Dirigent Protein Family Function and Structure, and more. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in Methods in Enzymology series - Includes the latest information on Biochemical pathways and environmental responses in plants