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Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions, Student Edition

ISBN: 978-0-470-74659-2

December 2009

384 pages

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Description
Molecular orbital theory is used by chemists to describe the arrangement of electrons in chemical structures. It is also a theory capable of giving some insight into the forces involved in the making and breaking of chemical bonds—the chemical reactions that are often the focus of an organic chemist’s interest. Organic chemists with a serious interest in understanding and explaining their work usually express their ideas in molecular orbital terms, so much so that it is now an essential component of every organic chemist’s skills to have some acquaintance with molecular orbital theory.

Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions is both a simplified account of molecular orbital theory and a review of its applications in organic chemistry; it provides a basic introduction to the subject and a wealth of illustrative examples. In this book molecular orbital theory is presented in a much simplified, and entirely non-mathematical language, accessible to every organic chemist, whether student or research worker, whether mathematically competent or not. Topics covered include:

  • Molecular Orbital Theory
  • Molecular Orbitals and the Structures of Organic Molecules
  • Chemical Reactions — How Far and How Fast
  • Ionic Reactions — Reactivity
  • Ionic Reactions — Stereochemistry
  • Pericyclic Reactions
  • Radical Reactions
  • Photochemical Reactions

Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions: Student Edition serves in a sense as a second edition of the author's influential earlier book Frontier Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions, but has been completely rewritten, greatly enlarging the chapters on molecular orbital theory itself, and on the effect of orbital interactions on the structures of organic molecules. There is more on the theoretical basis for the principle of hard and soft acids and bases, and a whole chapter on the stereochemistry of the fundamental organic reactions. Correlation diagrams have been added to the discussion of pericyclic chemistry, and a great deal more in that, the largest chapter. A number of new topics, both omissions from the earlier book and work that has taken place in the intervening years, are included, and there are more words of caution in discussing frontier orbital theory itself.

Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions: Student Edition is an invaluable textbook on this important subject for students of organic, physical organic and computational chemistry.

About the Author
Professor Ian Fleming, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Ian Fleming is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Chemistry in the University of Cambridge, and an Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College. He is the author of five textbooks: Spectroscopic Methods in Organic Chemistry (McGraw Hill, now in its 6th edition), Spectroscopic Problems in Organic Chemistry (McGraw Hill); Selected Organic Syntheses (Wiley), Frontier Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions (Wiley) and Pericyclic Reactions (OUP Oxford Chemistry Primer series).
Features
  • Provides a first course in this important topic
  • Extends the “frontier orbital” approximation of Fleming’s classic “Frontier Orbitals” to encompass the wider field of molecular orbitals.
  • Fully updated with a wealth of recent illustrative examples
  • Includes key references and suggested further reading for students to find out more
  • A greater emphasis is put on chemistry than on quantum mechanics, and the intelligent use of the rules rather than their mathematical derivation.