Since its original appearance in 1977, Advanced Organic Chemistry has maintained its place as the premier textbook in the field, offering broad coverage of the structure, reactivity and synthesis of organic compounds. As in the earlier editions, the text contains extensive references to both the primary and review literature and provides examples of data and reactions that illustrate and document the generalizations. While the text assumes completion of an introductory course in organic chemistry, it reviews the fundamental concepts for each topic that is discussed.

The two-part fifth edition has been substantially revised and reorganized for greater clarity. Among the changes: Updated material reflecting advances in the field since 2001’s Fourth Edition, especially in computational chemistry; A companion Web site provides digital models for study of structure, reaction and selectivity; Solutions to the exercises provided to instructors online.

The control of reactivity to achieve specific syntheses is one of the overarching goals of organic chemistry. Part B describes the most general and useful synthetic reactions, organized on the basis of reaction type. Together with Part A: Structure and Mechanisms, the two volumes are intended to provide the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate student in chemistry with a sufficient foundation to comprehend and use the research literature in organic chemistry.