Reactions and Syntheses in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory

This laboratory guide offers students a practical approach to preparative organic chemistry and aims to provide the practising organic chemist with all the information needed to plan syntheses and implement them effectively. The text begins by giving general guidance on carrying out synthetic reactions, including standard techniques and apparatus, and advice on laboratory safety. The chemistry of simple functional groups is then covered, with a general introduction to each class of compounds followed by detailed instructions for individual reactions. The preparation, isolation and purification of products is detailed, comments on their stability and toxicity are given, and their characterization by spectroscopic and chemical means is described. After each reaction, points of theoretical or practical interest are highlighted and the many references to recent reviews and original articles aim to allow the reader to study the mechanistic and theoretical aspects in more detail. Important methods of C-C bond formation are described and applied to the synthesis of cyclic carbon compounds, heterocycles and dyes.
Routes to a wide variety of natural product molecules are considered in terms of a reterosynthetic approach, and many include stereoselective steps and the use of protective groups. Synthetic schemes are given to summarize these more complex sequences.