Organic Chemistry (3rd Edition) [Hardcover]

Paula Yurkanis Bruice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0130178586 | ISBN-13: 978-0130178589 | Edition: 3

For full-year courses in organic chemistry taken by science and pre-health professions majors. This innovative text from acclaimed educator Paula Bruice is organized in a way that discourages rote memorization. It highlights mechanistic similarities and ties synthesis and reactivity together-teaching the reactivity of a functional group and the synthesis of compounds obtained as a result of that reactivity. Bruice's writing has been praised for anticipating students' questions and appeals to their need to learn visually and by solving problems. Emphasizing that students should reason their way to solutions rather than memorize facts, Bruice encourages students to think about what they have learned previously and apply that knowledge in a new setting. The text balances coverage of traditional topics with bioorganic chemistry, recognizing the importance of bioorganic topics to today's students.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Marine organisms like Tubestra, shown on the front cover, are a rich source of organic compounds with interesting and potent biological activity. Organic compounds derived from such living sources are called natural products.

Bengamide A comes from an orange encrusting sponge. This compound, as well as a host of analogs, has unique anti-tumor properties currently being exploited to develop new anticancer agents. Jasplakinolide, also found in a sponge, modulates the formation and depolymerization of actin microtubules ubiquitous to all cells. This compound has been used to improve our understanding of biological processes like cell division.

A closer look at these compounds reveals some fascinating elements of molecular architecture. There are six chirality centers in each of these molecules (Chapter 4). Also present in each are novel amino acid (Chapter 21) and lipid (Chapter 24) derivatives. The distinct biological activity of both molecules has motivated synthetic chemists worldwide to plan and execute elegant total syntheses (Chapter 29). These are just two of many examples of how natural products are key players in contemporary research linking organic chemistry to other disciplines.

About the Author

PAULA YURKANIS BRUICE was raised primarily in Massachusetts, Germany, and Switzerland and was graduated from the Girls' Latin School in Boston. She received an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Virginia. She received an NIH postdoctoral fellowship for postdoctoral study in biochemistry at the University of Virginia Medical School, and she held a postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale Medical School.

She has been a member of the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 1972, where she has received the Associated Students Teacher of the Year Award, the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, and two Mortar Board Professor of the Year Awards. Her research interests concern the mechanism and catalysis of organic reactions, particularly those of biological significance. Paula has a daughter and a son who are physicians and a son who is a lawyer. Her main hobbies are reading mystery/suspense novels and her pets (two dogs, two cats, and a parrot).

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 1320 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (August 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130178586
• ISBN-13: 978-0130178589
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,101,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text but awful answer keys and Solution Manual, May 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Organic Chemistry (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I just finished taking my first Organic Chemistry course and got an A -- and this text was a huge reason why. Her organization and explanation of reactions and mechanisms was great and her graphics were very helpful. This text was a huge improvement over my General Chemistry textbook (Zumdahl's Chemistry) which was awful. This text made the course very comprehensible. Only two things kept me from giving this book five stars. One, the answer key, both in the text and in the Solution Manual, was completely unreliable and many of the answers were wrong. Prentice Hall must have used one of their editorial interns to check the answer keys. Very sloppy work. Two, the NMR and IR chapters (Ch. 12 & 13) weren't as clear and comprehensible as the other chapters. Other than that, however, an excellent text for the Organic Chemistry novice.

5 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars it's ok, but I would get another book instead, October 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Organic Chemistry (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I had this book for class, she really jumps on her subjects,not well organized. There are also numerous errors. About 30% of the answers in the back of the book were wrong.

2 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars grrrr Organic, November 28, 2000

By 

rcwant2be (michigan state university) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Organic Chemistry (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

Orgo is tough folks! it just might keep me out of vet school. i believe msu was the first school to start using the third edition. it wasn't even printed when we started class! we were in class a week b4 they came out & it took another month to get the study guide. i still haven't gotten the cd rom that was supposed to be included with the book. i called the publisher & they were supposed to send it to me. bruice tries her best to explain a topic that makes absolutely no sense to me. if u buy this book, make sure you get one with the cd rom in it. and if you wanna wait another semester, you can have mine, slightly, and i mean SLIGHTLY, used.