Organic Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction

Citation

Patrick, G. (2017). Organic Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. Very Short Introductions.

Chapter Summary

The book runs to about 160 pages in nine chapters. Oxford's description presents it as a survey of the whole range of organic compounds and their roles: it starts from the structures and properties of the basic groups of compounds and then moves to pharmaceuticals, polymers, food and drink, petrochemicals and nanotechnology. The balance is clear from the page ranges: the principles occupy Chapters 2–3 (about 45 pages), and Chapters 4–9, roughly two-thirds of the book, are about what organic chemistry does.

Chapter 1: Introduction

A five-page opening that defines organic chemistry as the study of carbon compounds' structure, properties and synthesis, explains why the sheer number of possible carbon compounds makes it a field of its own, and notes that its discoveries have brought drawbacks for health and the environment as well as benefits.

Chapter 2: The fundamentals

Why carbon forms so many compounds: its four valence electrons, covalent bonding to other elements and to itself, and the chains, branches and rings that result. The chapter also covers naming compounds and identifying structures, stereochemistry, functional groups, and intermolecular and intramolecular interactions.

Chapter 3: The synthesis and analysis of organic compounds

The longest chapter (pp. 25–49) explains how a synthesis is planned so that every atom ends up in the right place, introducing retrosynthesis, and how reactions are run and monitored with chromatography and infrared spectroscopy. It then covers isolating and purifying products, identifying them by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, and understanding how reactions take place.

Chapter 4: The chemistry of life

Proteins and nucleic acids built from amino acids and nucleotides, the biosynthesis of other natural products, the functions of proteins, DNA and RNA, theories of prebiotic chemistry, and the commercial use of enzymes and nucleic acids.

Chapter 5: Pharmaceuticals and medicinal chemistry

The history of drug discovery in the 19th and 20th centuries, rational drug design since the 1960s (drug targets, bioassays, lead compounds, structure–activity relationships, pharmacophores and optimisation), drug development through clinical trials and regulation, and finally veterinary drugs and drugs of abuse.

Chapter 6: Pesticides

Insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. The chapter follows insecticide classes from organochlorines through carbamates, organophosphates, pyrethrins and pyrethroids to neonicotinoids, the search for new targets to overcome resistance, and the push for safer, more environmentally friendly agents.

Chapter 7: The chemistry of the senses

The organic chemistry of sight, smell and taste: 11-cis-retinal in the rod cells of the eye, odour molecules and olfactory receptors, and molecules that interact with taste receptors, with the food and cosmetics industries' synthetic colours, flavours and scents in the background.

Chapter 8: Polymers, plastics, and textiles

Monomers and polymers, addition and condensation polymerisation, the health, environmental and economic issues raised by plastics, recycling and depolymerisation, biodegradable plastics and bioplastics, and new polymers with novel uses.

Chapter 9: Nanochemistry

Molecular structures of 1–100 nm: diamond, graphite, graphene and fullerenes, nanotubes in electronics, rotaxanes as molecular switches, DNA nanostructures, nanodevices and nanomachines, and the safety and toxicology of nanotechnology.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3: Principles

• Covalent bonding of carbon: four valence electrons shared to form stable bonds, including carbon–carbon bonds that allow chains, branches and rings.
• Functional groups and stereochemistry: the groups of atoms that define compound classes, and the three-dimensional arrangement of molecules.
• Retrosynthesis: planning a synthesis by working backwards from the target molecule.
• Structure determination: identifying products with mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy.

Chapters 4–5: Life and Medicines

• Biopolymers: proteins and nucleic acids assembled from amino acids and nucleotides.
• Structure–activity relationships: how changes to a lead compound's structure alter its biological activity, central to drug optimisation.

Chapters 6–9: Applications and Materials

• Pesticide resistance: the reason the search for insecticides with new targets continues.
• Addition and condensation polymers: the two general routes to synthetic polymers.
• Carbon allotropes: diamond, graphite, graphene and fullerenes, the starting point for nanochemistry.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Shows why the subject matters. Most of the book is devoted to medicines, pesticides, the senses, polymers and nanochemistry, so a reader sees organic chemistry at work across biology, medicine, agriculture and materials before meeting it as a course.
• Includes the practical side. Chapter 3 covers how chemists actually plan, run, purify and identify products, including retrosynthesis and the main spectroscopic and diffraction methods.
• Balanced on consequences. The introduction notes drawbacks for health and the environment as well as benefits, and the pesticide, polymer and nanochemistry chapters discuss safety, resistance, recycling and toxicology.

Limitations

• Principles compressed. Bonding, nomenclature, stereochemistry, functional groups and intermolecular forces share a single chapter of about 19 pages, and how reactions take place is one strand of Chapter 3 rather than a chapter of its own.
• Not a course text. At about 160 pages it is a survey, not a textbook, and on its own it cannot prepare students for problem-based examinations.
• Selective applications. The application chapters reflect a choice of fields: pesticides and the senses each get a chapter, while petrochemicals and food and drink, mentioned in Oxford's description, have no chapter of their own.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the organic chemistry books on this list, Patrick's is the overview to read before the course starts or while deciding whether to take it. It does not overlap much with Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language, a first-semester companion built on short explanations and worked problems in bonding, acid–base chemistry and mechanisms; the two complement each other, Patrick supplying the motivation and Klein the practice.

The course itself is carried by full textbooks such as McMurry's Organic Chemistry, a freely accessible text covering structure, stereochemistry, mechanisms, synthesis and spectroscopy for the usual two-course sequence, and Clayden, Greeves and Warren's Organic Chemistry, organised around reaction mechanisms. Carey and Sundberg's Advanced Organic Chemistry and Anslyn and Dougherty's Modern Physical Organic Chemistry are graduate-level treatments of structure and mechanism, far beyond this book.

How to Use This Book

The book suits students about to start a first organic chemistry course, students in biology, pharmacy, medicine or materials who need a sense of the subject, and general readers with some school chemistry. Chapter 2 explains the bonding and structural ideas the later chapters use.

A practical plan:

• Before the course: read Chapters 1–3 closely. Chapter 2 is a preview of the first weeks of any course (structure, naming, stereochemistry, functional groups), and Chapter 3 shows where the course is heading: synthesis, spectroscopy and mechanism.
• For motivation: read the application chapters according to interest; Chapter 5 for pharmacy and medicine students, Chapter 4 for biologists, Chapters 8–9 for materials students.
• During the course: return to Chapter 3 when spectroscopy and synthesis planning are taught, as an overview of how the techniques fit together.

The book is a companion to reading, not to problem solving; pair it with a textbook and with a workbook such as Klein's for practice.