Advanced Organic Chemistry: Part A: Structure and Mechanisms

Since its original appearance in 1977, Advanced Organic Chemistry has found wide use as a text providing broad coverage of the structure, reactivity and synthesis of organic compounds. The Fourth Edition provides updated material but continues the essential elements of the previous edition. The material in Part A is organized on the basis of fundamental structural topics such as structure, stereochemistry, conformation and aromaticity and basic mechanistic types, including nucleophilic substitution, addition reactions, carbonyl chemistry, aromatic substitution and free radical reactions. The material in Part B is organized on the basis of reaction type with emphasis on reactions of importance in laboratory synthesis. As in the earlier editions, the text contains extensive references to both the primary and review literature and provides examples of data and reactions that illustrate and document the generalizations. While the text assumes completion of an introductory course in organic chemistry, it reviews the fundamental concepts for each topic that is discussed.
The Fourth Edition updates certain topics that have advanced rapidly in the decade since the Third Edition was published, including computational chemistry, structural manifestations of aromaticity, enantioselective reactions and lanthanide catalysis.
The two parts stand alone, although there is considerable cross-referencing. Part A emphasizes quantitative and qualitative description of structural effects on reactivity and mechanism. Part B emphasizes the most general and useful synthetic reactions. The focus is on the core of organic chemistry, but the information provided forms the foundation for future study and research in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, biological chemistry and physical properties of organic compounds.

The New Revised 5th Edition will be available shortly. For details, click on the link in the right-hand column.

Since its original appearance in 1977, Advanced Organic Chemistry has maintained its place as the premier textbook in the field, offering broad coverage of the structure, reactivity and synthesis of organic compounds. As in the earlier editions, the text contains extensive references to both the primary and review literature and provides examples of data and reactions that illustrate and document the generalizations. While the text assumes completion of an introductory course in organic chemistry, it reviews the fundamental concepts for each topic that is discussed.

The two-part fifth edition has been substantially revised and reorganized for greater clarity. Part A begins with the fundamental concepts of structure and stereochemistry, and the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of reactivity. Major reaction types covered include nucleophilic substitution, addition reactions, carbanion and carbonyl chemistry, aromatic substitution, pericyclic reactions, radical reactions, and photochemistry.

Among the changes:

• Coverage of the importance of computational chemistry in modern organic chemistry, including applications to many specific reactions.
• Expanded coverage of stereoselectivity and enantioselectivity, including discussion of several examples of enantioselective reagents and catalysts
• Chapter 10, Concerted Pericyclic Reactions, has been reorganized and now begins with cycloaddition reactions.
• The treatment of photochemical reactions has been extensively updated to reflect both experimental and computational studies of the transient intermediates involved in photochemical reactions.
• A companion Web site provides digital models for study of structure, reaction and selectivity. Here students can view and manipulate computational models of reaction paths. These sites also provide exercises based on detailed study of the computational models.
• Several chapters in Part A conclude with Topics – short excursions into specific topics such as more detailed analysis of polar substituent effects, efforts to formulate substituent effects in terms of density functional theory, or the role of carbocations in petroleum refining
• Solutions to the chapter problems are provided to instructors online

Advanced Organic Chemistry Part A provides a close look at the structural concepts and mechanistic patterns that are fundamental to organic chemistry. It relates those mechanistic patterns, including relative reactivity and stereochemistry, to underlying structural factors. Understanding these concepts and relationships will allow students to recognize the cohesive patterns of reactivity in organic chemistry. Part A: Structure and Mechanism and Part B: Reaction and Synthesis - taken together - are intended to provide the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate student in chemistry with a foundation to comprehend and use the research literature in organic chemistry