Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Good books for ochem practice ?

spoofy - 12-7-2009 at 11:01


Most of the books i've seen at the local shop cover chem basics etc.. but very few are guides to projects like extraction of caffeine. I've run across "Modern Projects and Experiments in Organic Chemistry" which looks like a good buy .. but can anyone here suggest others?

I know there is stuff online.. but I prefer to have a book.

Polverone - 12-7-2009 at 11:36

There are a lot of good books of practical and experimental organic chemistry in the site library. I'd recommend Louis Fieser's Experiments in Organic Chemistry, scanned by our own S.C. Wack.

The advantage of the older books is that they don't expect you to have access to modern instruments, so the experiments are easier to conduct in full in an inexpensive lab like you may have at home. If you have access to a fully equipped modern lab, newer books may prepare you better for later learning/research in that environment, though there's a lot of material recorded in older books that remains useful if underappreciated.

[Edited on 7-12-2009 by Polverone]