Categories: Organic Chemistry

Organic Chemistry

Description

A first and second year undergraduate organic chemistry textbook,
specifically geared to British and European courses and courses offered in
better schools in North America. The emphasis is on clarity and understanding,
with very careful explanations of difficult concepts, many examples related to
everyday life, and a fresh and student-friendly writing style.

Editorial Review

If there is a text book for organic chemistry, which I can recommend
without restriction, then it is "Organic Chemistry" from the authors
Clayden/Greeves/Warren/Wolters. There are several reasons for this:


The book accompanies the beginner in organic chemistry from the structure
of the molecules, over NMR up to the topics for advanced, like
heterocycles and asymmetrical synthesis. A typical arrangement of
functional groups as seen in older text books does not occur. Thus,
rather mechanisms and concepts of organic chemistry with rising
difficulties are explained. Therefore it can be seen , that a certain
mechanism (e.g. the addition to a carbonyl group) can be applied to
different functional groups.


A large deficiency of comparable books are the given schemes, which mostly
contain "R groups". In this regard, "Clayden" is very practice-related.
Thus, in the chapter "acidity, basicity and pKa", the base instability
of the Fmoc protective group is explained . Examples like the synthesis
of the antibiotic ofloxacin are skillfully inserted later.


As very successful I call the marginal notes. Thus a mechanism is
explained again in another kind, or you receive hints, referring to
earlier or later chapters, where you can find more information about the
topic. Marginal notes contain remarks like "The Favorskii mechanism want
help you understand the Ramberg-Baecklund reaction... ". The book
doesnt lead you in temptation of stubborn memorization, but does
promote interlaced thinking.


Interesting additions are, e.g. chapters about main group chemistry (S, B,
Si...), "Organometallic Chemistry" and "The Chemistry of Life".
Therefore the book is not only recommendable for lectures in organic
chemistry, but also as a companion in biochemistry lectures.


Who "Clayden" possesses, has in lectures where alcohols, amines, carbonic
acids and amides are strictly treated separately from each other,
probably more or less to keep leafing back and forth and back again.
However, this book has, compared with usual text books, to offer some
pluses.


Beyond that, I recommend lecturers the acquisition of an "inspection
copy". You should use this offer,

to promote organic knowledge in another way and to encourage interlaced
thinking.

Contents

1 What is organic chemistry?

Organic Chemistry and this book

2 Organic structures

3 Determining organic structures

4 Structure of molecules

5 Organic reactions

6 Nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl group

7 Delocalization and conjugation

8 Acidity, basicity, and pKa

9 Using organometallic reagents to make C-C bonds

10 Conjugate addition

11 Proton nuclear magnetic resonance

12 Nucleophilic substitution at the carbonyl (C=O) group

13 Equilibria, rates, and mechanisms: summary of mechanistic principles

14 Nucleophilic substitution at C=O with loss of carbonyl oxygen

15 Review of spectroscopic methods

16 Stereochemistry

17 Nucleophilic substitution at saturated carbon

18 Conformational analysis

19 Elimination reactions

20 Electrophilic addition to alkenes

21 Formation and reactions of enols and enolates

22 Electrophilic aromatic substitution

23 Electrophilic alkenes

24 Chemoselectivity: selective reactions and protection

25 Synthesis in action

26 Alkylation of enolates

27 Reactions of enolates with aldehydes and ketones: the aldol reaction

28 Acylation at carbon

29 Conjugate addition of enolates

30 Retrosynthetic analysis

31 Controlling the geometry of double bonds

32 Determination of stereochemistry by spectroscopic

33 Stereoselective reactions of cyclic compounds

34 Diastereoselectivity

35 Pericyclic reactions 1: cycloadditions

36 Pericyclic reactions 2: sigmatropic and electrocyclic reactions

37 Rearrangements

38 Fragmentation

39 Radical reactions

40 Synthesis and reactions of carbenes

41 Determining reaction mechanisms

42 Saturated heterocycles and stereoelectronics

43 Aromatic heterocycles 1: structures and reactions

44 Aromatic heterocycles 2: synthesis

45 Asymmetric synthesis

46 Organo-main-group chemistry I: sulfur

47 Organo-main-group chemistry II: boron, silicon, and tin

48 Organometallic chemistry

49 The chemistry of life

50 Mechanisms in biological chemistry

51 Natural products

52 Polymerization

53 Organic chemistry today