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This 10th edition continues a succession of winners.
The preface tells us that this text has been used "by hundreds
of thousands of students in the United States and
worldwide, via numerous translations".
Why such success? Teachers and others planning
organic chemistry courses find that these editions treat
competently the topics they want to teach. In this 10th edition, text
is allocated as follows: 33% to principles of bonding,
stereochemistry, and kinetics, including the chemistry of
hydrocarbons; 31% to the chemistry of principal functional
groups; 6% to physical methods for structure
determination; 9% to heterocycles and polymers; and 21% to the chemistry
of major biomolecule classes (lipids, carbohydrates, proteins
and nucleic acids).
As I said in my 1953 review of the first edition,
"The style of writing is fast-moving and somewhat
abrupt" (Bunnett, J. F. J. Chem. Educ.
1953, 30, 375). For many students, the terseness in treatment of principles is
little problem, for most of these principles are also taught
in elementary courses.
I cheer the chapters on heterocycles and polymers,
for major classes of biomolecules are polymers containing
heterocyclic moieties of high biological significance.
The chapter on carbohydrates indicates the character
of the book. Substantial attention is given to
stereoisomerism, to formation of cyclic hemiacetals, to alkylation and
acylation reactions, to reduction and oxidation of the
aldehyde functionality, and to formation and structures of
glycosides, including oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Omitted, however, are the formation of osazones, the Kiliani
synthesis, and degradation reactions of classical
carbohydrate chemistry.
Here and there are essays on applications of
organic chemistry or topics of special interest, such as fullerenes and
the chlorofluorocarbons-ozone layer problem. They are
inserted in appropriate chapters, in a special format. Although they
may well sustain student interest, some teachers might prefer
the space to be used to elaborate on mainline topics. Thus, one
can argue that understanding of pH and buffers is so
important in biological sciences that treatment of acid dissociation
equilibria and dissociation constants (done well in this
text) should be followed by attention to pH and buffers (not done).
So, the book is not perfect, but it is a very good
one, and has a good future.
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