A review of the fifth edition of this text appeared in this Journal (1992, A251). Much of that review still applies to this edition.

Visually, the text continues to be improved. The use of color is clearer. Color is employed very effectively when illustrating nucleophiles and leaving groups. Most reaction mechanisms are set apart by a gray title bar with red lettering, making them easier to find.

Organization has changed little. The radical reactions chapter has been delayed to Chapter 9, while spectroscopy has been advanced to Chapter 13, ahead of the aromatic chemistry chapters. Alcohol nomenclature is introduced in the same chapter as alkane nomenclature. The chapters on amines and b-dicarbonyl chemistry have been switched, but none of these are really earth-shattering changes.

The content also has changed little, other than in the spectroscopy chapter and in Chapter 3 (An Introduction to Organic Reactions: Acids and Bases). The biggest improvement in this edition is the use of 300 MHz proton NMR spectra, as opposed to the 60 MHz spectra used in previous editions. This eliminates most of the "second-order" coupling problems, and helps the beginning student learn to interpret NMR spectra more easily. The discussion of 13C NMR has been enhanced with better spectra as well. The discussion of NMR has also been improved in this chapter.

Chapter 3 continues to be a strong chapter, and has been enhanced by the use of more organic examples. The use of curved arrows is introduced clearly using acid-base reactions, resonance, and a few organic reactions. If students can master the concepts in this chapter, then they will have a good background for many of the reactions and mechanisms that they will encounter later.

One of the strengths of the text is the large number of problems, both within and at the end of the chapters. Many of these problems have been revised, and several new end-of-chapter problems have been added to each chapter. The review problem sets, which follow Chapters 12 and 21, have been little changed, but are great for helping students to study for finals or to review at the beginning of the semester.

Typographical errors appear to be few. There seems to be an extraneous arrow in the scheme at the top of page 888, and an arrow and the NH₂ group on the enzyme are missing from the scheme at the top of page 828 (compare with the corresponding drawing on page 794 of the fifth edition). The page headings on the review problem sets are deceiving. The first set still has the Chapter 12 heading on page 532. The second set is entitled "First Review Problem Set", and has that heading on pages 995 & 997, and has the Chapter 21 heading on pages 994, 996, & 998.

Overall, this edition is not a large change from the previous one. The improvements in the visual presentation and in NMR are very positive. This text should be a strong candidate when choosing a book for a two-semester organic chemistry sequence.