Organic Synthesis by MB Smith (Organic Chemistry)

Member Name: MGirl

Product:	Organic Chemistry
Date:	11/07/01 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comprehensive, Understandable, Well laid out

Disadvantages: Expensive, Not for first and second year undergrads

This is a final year textbook which is an absolute must if you intend to progress to a synthetic PhD. Although organic synthesis moves quickly, my copy of Smith’s book still covers the majority of useful synthetic transformations despite seven years having past since the book was printed. This enormous book is well set out into sensible chapters and has several indices, for example “Named Reactions” and “Subject” making reactions easy to find.

For lab synthesis, Smith compliments Vogel’s book well as it deals with more complex and unusual reactions. Unlike Vogel however, a trip to the library is required to follow a procedure, as experimentals are not contained in this book. The text is indispensable for synthetic problems as the explanations are frequently more detailed than the original papers. The introductions to each class of reaction are very understandable and the diagrams are, in general, clear and easy to comprehend. It’s a great starting point for explanations when writing papers or theses.

I wouldn’t recommend this book for first and second year undergraduates however the chemistry is too advanced. For final years not considering an organic PhD, it’s probably best to borrow from the library, as the book is quite expensive.

Summary: