Organic Chemistry: Structure, Function, and Practice

With a focus on organic chemistry students at all levels, problems are incorporated into the body of the text in an effort to engage students more directly in chemistry. Arrowless mechanisms seek to help students develop their electron-pushing skills and intuition through repeated practice. By design this volume is more actively engaging than a traditional textbook. In addition, the historical development of ideas is presented to help frame and center these concepts for the reader. Primary and summative sources are given for all topics covered. The sources provide definitive information for the reader and ensure that all information is supported by peer-reviewed, experimental sources.

Features:

• The development of key ideas is presented in their historical context.
• All information presented is supported through citations to chemical literature
• Problems are incorporated into the body of the text, including arrowless mechanisms which encourage students to engage more actively and to develop their electron-pushing skills and intuition.
• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry style and technical guidelines are followed throughout the text.
• The problems, text, and presentation are based on years of classroom refinement of teaching pedagogy.

Dr William Tucker – his passion for chemistry was inspired by his high school teacher, Gary Osborn. He left Maine to pursue Chemistry at Middlebury College, and after graduating in 2010 he decided to pursue a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he worked in the laboratory of Dr Sandro Mecozzi, where he developed semifluorinated triphilic surfactants for hydrophobic drug delivery. After earning his PhD in 2015, he took a fellowship at Boston University as a Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow. There he co-taught organic chemistry while working in the laboratory of Dr John Caradonna. In the Caradonna laboratory, he worked on developing a surface-immobilized iron-oxidation catalyst for the oxidation of C–H bonds using dioxygen from the air as the terminal oxidant. Throughout all of this work, his passion has always been for teaching and working with students both in and out of the classroom. He has been lucky for the past six years to work at Concord Academy, where his students have, through their questions, pushed him to think deeper and more critically about chemistry. Their curiosity inspires him, and their inquisitiveness inspired his writing.