Selected Molecular Rearrangements [antikvár]

ForewordMolecular rearrangements have provided many of the keys which have opened the doors on our understanding of organic chemistry. At first they presented problems which appeared to undermine the very principles on which the theory of organic chemistry was built. However, in elucidating these problems the organic chemists have been led to a much deeper understanding of their subject. The pinacol rearrangement and the Wagner-Meerwein shift led to the acceptance of carbonium ions as intermediates and played an important part in the development of our understanding of substitution reactions. The Beckmann rearrangement paved the way to the stereochemistry of the oximes and thereby to the understanding of many other stereochemical problems. The cationic rearrangements undergone by the terpenoids led chemists to become interested in biosynthetic sequences, and it is not too much to say that the recent upsurge in the study of biosynthesis finds its origin in the rearrangements of the monoterpenes. Very much more recently, rationalisation of electrocyclic rearrangements paved the way to the concepts of orbital symmetry.Seldom have the pioneers who first discovered new fields of chemistry been willing or able to write about their discoveries for the benefit of the non-specialist audience and for students. T. S. Stevens, by discovering the rearrangement which bears his name, opened up a field which as the present text shows is still only part surveyed and some of which is yet veiled in mystery. Together with Dr. Watts he has written a text, which has that rare quality for an undergraduate text, of complete originality. The book is certain to be enjoyed by students and