Chemistry Talk Chemistry Talk    FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Organic book          Chemistry Talk Forum Index -> Chemistry Talk View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message Guest Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 7:57 pm    Post subject: Organic book Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Thanks! Lurch Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Uncle Al Guest Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 12:53 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book Galois271@gmail.com wrote: Quote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Morrison and Boyd is the classic, now Sixth Edition or later. It is a shame they had to pull the grad student who threaded through the problem sets... who dumped chemistry, became a politician, and attacked the French, "alternately caustic and vitrolic." -- Uncle Al http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/ (Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals) http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/lajos.htm#a2 Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Gregory Poon Guest Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 2:38 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book Galois271@gmail.com wrote: Quote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Thanks! Lurch I'd go for Fessenden and Fessenden. It's very to-the-point and easy to follow, which are good attributes especially if you're learning on your own. The down side is that it's not huge on mechanistic details. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Bill Penrose Guest Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 3:50 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book On May 25, 7:57 am, Galois...@gmail.com wrote: Quote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Truth be told, most organic chemistry texts are pretty much the same, and many haven't changed much for a decade or more. Look for used copies. There are also some online chem texts, but I can't locate any links right now. I can't vouch for their quality. Organic is a tough subject to learn from the ground up. Think calculus. A few people can learn it from a book, but many more cannot. Good luck. Dangerous Bill Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Gregory Bloom Guest Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 9:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Organic book On May 25, 8:57 am, Galois...@gmail.com wrote: Quote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Thanks! Lurch Like Uncle Al said, Morrison & Boyd (ISBN = 0136436692) is a definitive text, well written with well-checked problemsets. Also, if you can find a used set cheap, get "Organic Syntheses", (ISBN = 0471660523) which is pretty much the definitive cookbook of organic chemists. (It costs about $1800 new, but maybe you can find a set at an estate sale or used book store for a small fraction of that). Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Charlie Johnson Guest Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 11:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Organic book Thanks everyone! I was able to pick up a copy of Morrison & Boyd's 5 edition for $8 at my local used book store. I have a math and computer science degree; so, I am used to teaching myself hard subjects. I hope I can learn Organic chem., too. Lurch "Gregory Bloom" <Gregory.Bloom@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1180281926.623759.97020@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com... Quote: On May 25, 8:57 am, Galois...@gmail.com wrote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Thanks! Lurch Like Uncle Al said, Morrison & Boyd (ISBN = 0136436692) is a definitive text, well written with well-checked problemsets. Also, if you can find a used set cheap, get "Organic Syntheses", (ISBN = 0471660523) which is pretty much the definitive cookbook of organic chemists. (It costs about $1800 new, but maybe you can find a set at an estate sale or used book store for a small fraction of that). Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor The_Man Guest Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 3:55 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book On May 25, 10:57 am, Galois...@gmail.com wrote: Quote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Morrison and Boyd is not used now in Colleges (they lean towards McMurray), but I much prefer M & B. Quote: Thanks! Lurch Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Bruce Sinclair Guest Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 4:02 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book In article <1180479311.513201.222650@p47g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>, The_Man <me_so_horneeeee@yahoo.com> wrote: Quote: On May 25, 10:57 am, Galois...@gmail.com wrote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Morrison and Boyd is not used now in Colleges (they lean towards McMurray), but I much prefer M & B. Gasp ! That's what we used <mumble> years ago. I still like it and still use it occassionally. Logical and easy to understand ... at least to me. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor terphenyl Guest Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 8:54 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book On May 25, 10:57 am, Galois...@gmail.com wrote: Quote: Can someone recommend a good Organic Chem. book for a self-learner? Thanks! Lurch There are certainly almost three distinct approaches for presenting organic chemistry: 1) Pre-50's organic chemistry. The two volume set that was re-issued by Dover Books in the '60's by Frank C. Whitmore isn't a bad example.. It's the kind of thing that many of the folk here would enjoy--mini monographs of specific compounds containing that obscure piece of information that comes in handy at the odd moment. That azeotropic water-ethanol can be dried over CaO; should acetylene be released too quickly it can explode; that sort of thing. 2) Mechanistic from the ground up. Cram and Hammond eschews the functional-group presentation found in editions of other texts. Addition of other authors (Hendrickson, Pine) in later years started a bit of a creep to organization by functional group, but they are still worthwhile examples of this kind of approach. 3) Started as functional group, organized by functional group, and eventually accreted mechanisms. This approach is typified by Morrison and Boyd, a descendant of the Whitmore-type texts being organized principally by functional group but without actually any of the "cool stuff" in the Whitmore-style books. I would leave out the Morrison and Boyd-like texts right now and learn both some interesting organic chemistry with a Whitmore-type book, and start right out with a mechanistic organization a la Cram and Hammond. All can be found on line and at used bookstores. . Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Allan Adler Guest Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:04 pm    Post subject: Re: Organic book One of the things I like about my old copy of Streitwieser and Heathcock (2d ed) is the stereograms of molecules. -- Ignorantly, Allan Adler <ara@zurich.csail.mit.edu> * Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and * comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Charlie Johnson Guest Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:26 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book Thanks for all the recommendations everyone! I am checkin them all out. Lurch Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Allan Adler Guest Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:48 am    Post subject: Re: Organic book "Charlie Johnson" <boanerges35@yahoo.com> writes: Quote: Thanks for all the recommendations everyone! I am checkin them all out. If you find any other organic chem books besides Streitwieser and Heathcock that have stereograms of organic compounds, please post the information. -- Ignorantly, Allan Adler <ara@zurich.csail.mit.edu> * Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and * comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         Chemistry Talk Forum Index -> Chemistry Talk All times are GMT Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum Chemistry Talk----------------Chemistry Talk  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum 97 Attacks blocked Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group