Customer Reviews

Organic Chemistry (5th Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author has done an excellent job presenting the material in this textbook. The use of colored text and invaluable illustrations really make the lessons clear. There is no need to highlight or make side notes (something I often do) because the text is organized so well. The problems at the end of every section make you focus on what the author is trying to convey. By doing these problems religiously organic chemistry is easier to understand and can actually be fun (well, relatively at least).

Note: I recommend getting a really cheap used 4th edition solutions manual to go with the 5th edition book. There are very few differences and it is VERY helpful in terms of understanding where you're going astray with those end-of-section problems. This manual contains helpful explanations, not just answers to problems.

Overall "Organic Chemistry 5th Edition" is one of the best scientific textbooks I have ever seen.

As far as traditional style undergraduate organic textbooks go this is a good one. This book has the advantage of being relatively easy to understand, mechanism based view of organic chemistry, and is a good choice for someone who does not wish to become a synthetic chemist. The blue summary pages at the end of each chapter are especially useful as a quick reference and last minute study guide.

That being said, there are problems about this book that make it only worth purchasing as a required text for a serious chemist. While Wade is good about giving mechanisms for the most part, there are parts, especially later in the book and when metal reagents are used, where these are overlooked, leaving the student to either look up the mechanism elsewhere or simply memorize the reuslt. Another problem with Wade is that he tends intoduce a reaction or set of reactions in one section and then only in a later section discuss the regio- and stereo-selectivity of the reaction, which sometimes leads to difficulty getting the full story.

The book is arranged as a kind of walk through different functional groups synthesis and reactions. This is a common approach and not a poor one, but by the later chapters, most of the chemistry is review, making these chapters overly long and much less useful than they could have been.

A more subtle problem with this text is that it fails to give a student a feel for how laboratory chemistry really works. Reaction examples never have yields, diastereomer ratios, or enantiomeric excesses listed. Many reactions are not a selective as they appear in this text and does not give students a respect for selecting the best reactions for a given synthesis.

In summary, reading this book you will certainly understand organic chemistry and be sufficiently equipped to think about the subject. However, for a serious chemist, this is not the best choice. A more in depth and complete book such as that by Clayden and Geleeves would be a better choice.

This textbook is excellent. It makes organic chemistry much easier. The illustrations are great. The book goes step by step, so you don't get lost.

You should read the chapters in order. The concepts and terminology build up from previous chapters and you'll be lost without them. Unfortunately, all the teachers I've had jump around a lot. The most important chapter in this regard is chapter 6. You won't know what the book is talking about in later chapters without reading this one. The earlier chapters are just as important to read, but instructors tend to not skip them as often.

Also, the solutions manual could be better. It sometimes gives no information about how the answer was solved.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. It is much better than any other organic chemistry book I've ever read.

I'm in my second semester of organic chemistry and really struggled the first semester because my prof doesn't ellaborate on anything,likes to keep lectures generalized, and believes it's best that we learn on our own through the book. The $250 book we had to buy for the class is so wordy and poorly organized. We usually have 7-8 chapters on one exam (about every 3-4 weeks) and some of the chapters are 80-100 pages. When I study things I like the text or my notes I get caught up on the little things if it's not neatly/concisely/clearly written. This book is exactly what I love. It uses many colors to perfectly keep things easily readable. I had read hundreds of reviews (I'm not even kidding) about how wonderful Wade's texts are and how he teaches it as if you were a little kid--it's so true. You seriously cannnot read one of his chapters and not understand. I never use my other text anymore even if I know where the info I'm looking for is at. It is seriously one of the best science textbooks I have ever had because of how it's formated. He also has great examples in it that are useful....like ones that are often on our labs and on quizes/exams. The end of the chapter summaries are the best thing too. He literally sums everything up by writing all of the equations so everything is all on a couple of pages. I've photocopied many of the chapter reviews because they're such a concise and clean form of my notes.

Many people enter an organic chemistry course with incredible trepidation, but Wade's book is incredibly clear and helpful. Instead of encouraging rote memorization of reaction mechanisms and synthetic pathways, he develops a small number of core principles from which most of the more advanced topics may be built. The solved example problems in the text are very helpful, and the end-of-chapter problems are well-chosen. I had the good fortune of taking organic from a truly superb professor, but I think that even autodidacts could learn a great deal from this book. Any criticisms I have of this text are very minor (e.g. I would have preferred it if the mechanism for chromic acid oxidation had been given), and it makes the subject both interesting and genuinely enjoyable.

the book is pretty good and thorough. i just wish i didnt have to take the class.

Book was in ok shape, preety fast delivery, thank you. Will buy again

I purchased the incorrect item and had to return the item but had no problems with Amazon refunding my purchase amount.