Book and Media Review pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Review of Advanced Practical Organic Chemistry, 3rd Edition Tomasz Wrobel* Department of Synthesis and Chemical Technology of Pharmaceutical Substances, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin 20093, Poland Advanced Practical Organic Chemistry, 3rd ed., by John Leonard, Barry Lygo, and Garry Procter. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group: Boca Raton, FL, 2013. pp. ISBN: 9781439860977 (paperback). $69.95.
chemical reactions, followed by working up and purifying the obtained product. These chapters go into detailed descriptions of inert atmosphere techniques and reactions at temperatures other than room temperatures, something not commonly found in most undergraduate textbooks. There are also short chapters devoted to scaling the reaction to or from either small-scale or large-scale reactions. The chapter dealing with special procedures such as photolysis and microwave reactions is rather brief, and if more information were needed, readers would have to consult other sources. The following chapter discusses characterization of chemical compounds and describes relevant methods. However, this is only approached from a practical standpoint and readers will not find any information on interpreting NMR spectra. Chapter 16 offers a brief troubleshooting guide; Chapter 17 closes the book with a discussion about the chemical literature, which perhaps would be better suited at the beginning of the book. Reference information is provided in seven appendices. Few books discuss organic lab techniques in the amount of detail as Advanced Practical Organic Chemistry, 3rd ed. Obviously, many other excellent textbooks have been published on the subject, yet they are mainly aimed at undergraduate students, and so they usually skip over more advanced techniques. This book is precisely what the title says: advanced practical organic chemistry. Nothing more or less. At a manageable 330 pages, it is a textbook for students wanting to one day become proficient in working in an organic chemistry laboratory. It will not replace a skilled mentor, but lacking that, the book provides a solid foundation for laboratory work. Advanced Practical Organic Chemistry, 3rd ed. also makes a quite good reference for techniques that readers might have been exposed to previously but have not performed in some time. Unfortunately, there are minor mistakes, such as the one on page 21, where an NMR FID is identified as a flame ionization detector. Nevertheless, this book remains one I like to keep in my bookshelf, right next to Experimental Organic ChemistryStandard and Microscale by L. M. Harwood, C. J. Moody, and J. M. Percy.
T
he previous two editions of Advanced Practical Organic Chemistry have been reviewed;1,2 now a third edition has been recently published. The book deals with the subject of laboratory techniques used in organic chemistry. The material is aimed at more advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, research chemists, and everyone involved in organic synthesis. The book guides readers through every aspect of research, beginning from how to keep records, and ending with chemical literature searches; it does so quite well. The amount of information is just right and it is presented in a clear way. The material is accompanied by numerous figures and schemes. Significant changes were not made in the sections relating to actual techniques, as these rarely change. However, the book has been brought up to date in relevant fields, such as effective literature searches, which is a crucial skill for successful chemists in this day and age. Furthermore, new information is provided on methods that have become more common, such as microwave synthesis or controlled reactor systems. The quality of images has also been improved incrementally.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected].
Cover image provided by CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group and reproduced with permission.
Notes
The book consists of 17 chapters and begins by introducing readers to aspects of safety, keeping of laboratory work records, and equipping the laboratory. Topics such as making necessary preparations for chemical reactions, and how to purify, dry, and handle required solvents and reagents are treated next. In my opinion this is perhaps the most valuable segment of the book. Gases and vacuum pumps are briefly mentioned, and readers are then presented with information on carrying out the © 2014 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks to Sunny Brahmbhatt for proofreading the text, and valuable discussions. Published: January 27, 2014 161
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Book and Media Review
REFERENCES
(1) Davidson, J. G., III. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 2802−2804. (2) Gunatilaka, A. A. L. J. Nat. Prod. 1997, 60, 323−324.
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