Clayton's Introduction to Organic Chemistry [Paperback]

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.

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.

1.     Introduction

2.     Electronic Structure and Bonding

3.     Organic Structures

4.     Organic Reactions

5.     Alkanes

6.     Reactions of Alkanes

7.     Stereoisomerism

8.     Alkyl Halides and Organometallic Compounds

9.     Nucleophilic Substitution

10.   Alcohols and Ethers

11.   Alkenes

12.   Alkynes and Nitrites

13.   Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

14.   Aldehydes and Ketones

15.   Aldeydes and Ketones: Enols

16.   Organic Synthesis

17.   Infrared Spectroscopy

18.   Carboxylic Acids

19.   Derivatives of Carboxylic Acids

20.   Conjugation

21.   Benzene and the Aromatic Ring

22.   Molecular Orbital Theory

23.   Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution

24.   Amines

25.   Other Nitrogen Functions

26.   Sulfur, Phosphorus, and Silicon Compounds

27.   Difunctional Compounds

28.   Carbohydrates

29.   Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins

30.   Aromatic Haldes, Phenols, Phenyl Ethers, and Quinones

31.   Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

32.   Heterocyclic Compounds

33.   Molecular Recognition: Nucleic Acids and Some Biological Catalysts

34.   Mass Spectrometry

35.   The Chemical Literature

36.   Special Topics

Appendix   I  Heats of Formation

Appendix  II  Bond-Dissociation Energies

Appendix  III Average Bond Energies

Appendix  IV Proton Chemical Shifts

Appendix  V  Proton Chemical shifts

Appendix   V Symbols and Abbreviations

Index