Book excerpt: Rodd's Chemistry of Carbon Compounds, Second Edition, Volume I, Part D: Dihydric Alcohols: Their Oxidation Products and Derivatives describes acyclic compounds containing two functional groups on different carbon atoms. This volume is composed of six chapters, and begins with a description of dihydric alcohols and their derivatives. The next chapters are devoted to the classification and nomenclature of other dihydric alcohol derivatives, including hydroxyaldehydes, hydroxyketones, dicarbonyl compounds monohydroxy-monocarboxylic acids, and related compounds. The remaining chapters deal with nitrogen analogues, nitro and amino-monocarboxylic acids, aldehydic and ketonic monocarboxyhc acids, and acyclic dicarboxylic acids. This book is of value to organic chemists and researchers.