Organic Chemistry

Emphasizing explanation over factual knowledge, Organic Chemistry leads students into a deeper understanding of organic chemistry as a coherent whole complete with numerous logical connections, consequences, and an underlying structure and 'language.' It explains the basics carefully and thoroughly and emphasizes how to draw molecules realistically and how to draw mechanisms to reveal the fundamental chemistry. It incorporates many examples, giving new examples each time a concept resurfaces and frequently using examples from everyday life and medicinal chemistry. The book's innovative design aids comprehension: four types of boxes are used to separate summary and other material from the main text; structures are drawn in red, and black is used on them for emphasis; and other colors are employed flexibly to draw attention to atoms, molecules, orbitals, arrows, and other items the authors want to focus on. Early chapters feature carbonyl group reactions and later the chemistry develops in a logical sequence with chapters on spectroscopy, stereochemistry, etc. interspersed among those dealing with chemical reactions. The authors show that organic chemistry is developing rapidly, and that new ideas continually emerge to replace the old.