The Chem TV: Organic Chemistry series is a two-CD-ROM set, with the material divided loosely along the lines of material typically covered in the two semesters of introductory organic chemistry. Each CD-ROM contains sections on Structure, Reactions, and Special Topics; Organic Chemistry II also has treatment of Biochemical Structures and a selection of Self-Tests.

There is an excellent initial interface, which shows the user how to manipulate the software, offers suggestions for classroom projection, order of coverage, computer set-ups, and the like, and includes an animated demonstration. There is also a Master Document, which contains titles and brief descriptions of the animations included.

The sections on Structure are mainly Hypercard-like slide shows with some animation. Most movies actually consist of a number of short animated sequences, and the user must keep hitting the play button to get through the entire sequence. Although this may be useful for dividing information into discrete segments, it makes the experience somewhat disjointed. For the most part, the movies in the Structure sections appear to be less instructive than having the students work with a model set. There are exceptions, however, as the section on butane does an excellent job of correlating conformations with potential energy. The section on Carboxylic Acids/Derivatives does a very good job of showing the difference between addition/elimination reactions to these compounds and the addition of nucleophiles to aldehydes and ketones.

The sections on Reactions are more useful. In general, the movies in these sections show the progress of a reaction by first indicating the movement of and bonding between nuclei, followed by a second run-through using the curved-arrow notation. Some of the movies are excellent: the section on Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution does a superb job of showing how substituents can activate or deactivate the aromatic ring; the treatment of Catalytic Hydrogenation of Alkenes does a very good job of showing the syn addition of hydrogen and discussing the concept of prochiral faces; and the sections on alkyllithium reagents and lithium dialkylcuprates contained in the Reactions of Organometallic Reagents do an excellent job of showing the mechanisms of how those reagents react. Other sections of note include Bromination of Alkenes and the Diels­Alder Reaction. Unfortunately, the treatments of S_N1, S_N2, E1 and E2 are somewhat uneven.

The sections on Biochemical Structures are very detailed and much of it may be beyond the level of the introductory organic chemistry course. The material is very instructive, however, and much of it may be incorporated in the core of the course. For instance, the illustration of the cyclization of saccharides, and the equilibrium between alpha and beta anomers and the acyclic form is well-designed and would be a nice addition to any discussion of acetal/ketal chemistry. The Special Topics are similarly interesting, and correspond to many of the topics at the end of the book that we always hope to get to, but usually don't manage to cover.

There are a few minor problems that make Chem TV: Organic Chemistry somewhat more difficult to use than is necessary. The first is that although the Master Document gives a listing of the movies along with a brief description of their contents, the movies are not accessible from this menu. Instead, the user must open another file and find the desired movie from a list containing cryptic names, such as a04funct.exe. Also, the movies make extensive use of space-filling models, which sometimes make it difficult to follow the reaction. All in all, Chem TV: Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry II can be considered to be useful supplements to lecture material, especially for reaction pathways.