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Organic Chemistry: An Intermediate Text Robert V. Hoffman. Oxford University Press: New York, 1997. xii + 322 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.9 x 24.2 cm. ISBN: 0 19509618 5. $49.95.
This compact new book is the second in a developing Oxford series, Topics in Organic Chemistry. It is designed as a primary foundation text for an advanced undergraduate-first year graduate course and contains eleven chapters: Functional Groups and Chemical Bonding; Oxidation States of Organic Compounds; Acidity and Basicity; Curved-Arrow Notation; Stereochemistry and Conformation; Functional Group Synthesis; Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation between Nucleophiles and Electrophiles; Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation by Nonpolar Reactions; Free Radicals and Cycloadditions; Planning Organic Syntheses; Mechanisms of Organic Reactions; and Structure Determination of Organic Compounds. These are arranged in a logical sequence and range in size from 8 (Oxidation States) to 52 pages (Structure Determination). Each chapter is subdivided into sections and ends with a short bibliography citing common sophomore or more advanced texts and review articles. A collection of from 2 to 13 problems concludes each chapter, although most of these have multiple parts so the actual number of problems is substantial. The is also a 10-page index.
The font is small but readable. Each page is dense with text or figures, most of which are expertly rendered. The text itself is clean and crisp with relatively few typographical or grammatical errors, although some of these, such as the use of "quantitate" (p 40), are unfortunate. In some cases, the molecules shown are not named but arbitrarily given letter designations. This seems unnecessary and confusing-particularly in Chapter 9, where the letter "P" is used to designate two different synthetic targets. Kekule and bond line structures are used interchangeably, requiring a high level of student comfort with these representations.
Written from a mechanistic and structural perspective, this book is meant to fill the glaring vacuum that exists for a concise, one-semester, advanced undergraduate text and to provide sufficient review to serve as a bridge into graduate-level material. In general, it succeeds admirably. The size, layout, and coverage remind...