Introduction to Organic Chemistry

Before you begin your adventure in organic chemistry it is perhaps appropriate for you to take few minutes to plan your journey. Organic chemistry is alive and continuously being transformed by new concepts, new technologies, and new reactions. Any modern textbook has to provide the fundamentals in a sound and clear manner, and to give a glimpse of the frontier. This edition is motivated by the need to expand the coverage in a biochemical/biological direction, and to introduce certain significant new developments in approach. Organic chemistry is so broad and encompasses so much that those of us concerned with teaching the subject to new generations of students keep searching for the best way. This book is indebted to numerous teachers and students of organic chemistry for suggested improvements to make our text still better. The color introduced in this edition has been recognized as a significant aid to study and in emphasizing the location of the site of reaction. Experienced organic chemists view structures as a unified gestalt and see quickly where structural change has occurred in a reaction. The inexperienced student needs to search for such changes. The use of color helps by "spotlighting" where the action is. We have also used color to indicate the essential stoichiometry of many reactions, showing where specific atoms go in a manner resembling the use of isotopic labels. We have tried to use color as a pedagogic tool. A photoessay insert shows that the sparing use of multiple colors allows one to combine good pedagogy with the aesthetic aspects of organic chemistry. We have also introduced Asides at the end of each chapter to present particular topics in a different context that should intrigue students. The book contains 22 chapters. Each chapter has been written in such a manner that the student will grasp the concepts easily. The subject matter has been written in simple language with lucid style. We hope that this book will prove to be useful for the readers of Organic Chemistry.Before you begin your adventure in organic chemistry it is perhaps appropriate for you to take few minutes to plan your journey. Organic chemistry is alive and continuously being transformed by new concepts, new technologies, and new reactions. Any modern textbook has to provide the fundamentals in a sound and clear manner, and to give a glimpse of the frontier. This edition is motivated by the need to expand the coverage in a biochemical/biological direction, and to introduce certain significant new developments in approach. Organic chemistry is so broad and encompasses so much that those of us concerned with teaching the subject to new generations of students keep searching for the best way. This book is indebted to numerous teachers and students of organic chemistry for suggested improvements to make our text still better. The color introduced in this edition has been recognized as a significant aid to study and in emphasizing the location of the site of reaction. Experienced organic chemists view structures as a unified gestalt and see quickly where structural change has occurred in a reaction. The inexperienced student needs to search for such changes. The use of color helps by "spotlighting" where the action is. We have also used color to indicate the essential stoichiometry of many reactions, showing where specific atoms go in a manner resembling the use of isotopic labels. We have tried to use color as a pedagogic tool. A photoessay insert shows that the sparing use of multiple colors allows one to combine good pedagogy with the aesthetic aspects of organic chemistry. We have also introduced Asides at the end of each chapter to present particular topics in a different context that should intrigue students.