Abstract
The present state of the theory of the equilibrium chemical isotope effect is examined and the methods for the approximate and exact calculation of the partition functions of the isotopic forms of polyatomic molecules are analysed. Also analysed is the possibility of employing the chemical isotope effect for the interpretation of the force fields of molecules of transition complexes; relations between the isotope effects associated with the stepwise substitution of isotopes, coupled isotope effects, etc, are considered.
The relations between the isotope effects and the structural and general chemical phenomenological characteristics of compounds are discussed and a systematic treatment of chemical isotope effects together with the methods for the statistical prediction of the magnitude of these effects are considered.
The bibliography includes 117 references.