Chemical Education Today
Desk Reference for Organic Chemists Michael B. East and David J. Ager. Krieger: Malabar, FL, 1995. 492 pp. ISBN: 0-89464-818-7. $64.95.
As the title implies, Desk Reference for Organic Chemists is a compilation of information that might be useful to an organic chemist. Each of the 6 chapters is a different list of information or references. A preface to each chapter explains how the authors have organized the information that follows and provides some assistance to the reader. In many ways, this book is reminiscent of other organic reference books— Larock’s Comprehensive Organic Transformations and Name Reactions and Reagents in Organic Synthesis by Mundy and Ellerd come to mind—though Desk Reference is less specific in its coverage. Unlike The Chemists’ Companion, however, laboratory techniques are not a part of Desk Reference for Organic Chemists. Chapters 1 and 2 are lists of chemical acronyms and physical acronyms, respectively. These chapters will be most useful to students as they read the primary literature and find themselves confronted with the wide array of abbreviations and acronyms currently in use. “Chemical Acronyms” is 114 pages of abbreviations of reagents and groups. It is particularly interesting to see the many uses listed for the same acronym. For example, four entries appear for PAH, while TPP is listed seven times. “Physical Acronyms” is a shorter list of acronyms, abbreviations, and symbols covering physical methods and techniques. Although both chapters contain an extensive listing, no references are given for the source of the less common acronyms and, as the authors note, an acronym may have been used incorrectly in the literature. “Glossary of Organic Stereochemical and Synthetic Terms”, Chapter 3, is a dictionary-like listing of terms. As the chapter’s title implies, a major emphasis is on the terminology used by synthetic chemists to describe the stereochemistry of a reaction and retrosynthetic analysis of a target. The coverage is not limited to synthetic chemistry, however, as a number of important physical organic terms are included. The authors also include a handful of references for more detailed definitions and terms used in specific circumstances. Again, students are most likely to find this chapter useful as they begin reading the primary literature. “Named Reactions” consists of more than 100 pages of
organic name reactions. While the array of reactions is quite extensive, the information included is minimal and specific examples of each reaction are usually not provided. Instead, general transformations are provided, allowing the reader to focus on the functional group being modified. In general, reviews are cited rather than the original paper reporting the transformation, although, in the chapter’s preface, the authors note that the reviews serve as important lead references. Desk Reference for Organic Chemists differs from earlier name reaction references by Mundy and Ellerd and Hassner and Stumer that provide specific examples and more complete references. “Named Reagents” is an extensive listing of reagents that are often identified with a name of nonchemical origin. The list is long but provides only the chemical name of each name reagent. The inclusion of chemical structures and some leading references would make this chapter more useful to both students and professional chemists. At 188 pages, “Review References” is the book’s longest chapter. It is also the most valuable for instructors. The authors have assembled a list of important review articles on a wide range of topics and listed them under keywords. Where necessary, subtopics have been included to narrow one’s search. The keywords cover functional groups, classes of reactions (e.g.,, electrophilic addition), specific compounds, reactive intermediates, areas of organic chemistry such as organometallic chemistry, and techniques such as NMR. The majority of references were published after 1970, although a few key reviews (such as “Organic Reactions” chapters) published before 1970 are also listed. The most recent references appear to be from 1992. This chapter provides an easy-touse entry into the chemical literature. Desk Reference for Organic Chemists would be a useful addition to any chemistry department library. Students will find the chapters listing acronyms and named reagents especially helpful as they delve into the primary literature and faculty will appreciate the chapters on named reactions and review references. Desk Reference for Organic Chemists does not replace existing books on the reference shelf; it adds to the collection. R. David Crouch Department of Chemistry Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 75 No. 2 February 1998 • Journal of Chemical Education
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