The Second Edition demonstrates how computational chemistry continues to shed new light on organic chemistry The Second Edition of author Steven Bachrach’s highly acclaimed Computational Organic Chemistry reflects the tremendous advances in computational methods since the publication of the First Edition, explaining how these advances have shaped our current understanding of organic chemistry. Readers familiar with the First Edition will discover new and revised material in all chapters, including new case studies and examples. There’s also a new chapter dedicated to computational enzymology that demonstrates how principles of quantum mechanics applied to organic reactions can be extended to biological systems. Computational Organic Chemistry covers a broad range of problems and challenges in organic chemistry where computational chemistry has played a significant role in developing new theories or where it has provided additional evidence to support experimentally derived insights. Readers do not have to be experts in quantum mechanics. The first chapter of the book introduces all of the major theoretical concepts and definitions of quantum mechanics followed by a chapter dedicated to computed spectral properties and structure identification. Next, the book covers: Fundamentals of organic chemistry Pericyclic reactions Diradicals and carbenes Organic reactions of anions Solution-phase organic chemistry Organic reaction dynamics The final chapter offers new computational approaches to understand enzymes. The book features interviews with preeminent computational chemists, underscoring the role of collaboration in developing new science. Three of these interviews are new to this edition. Readers interested in exploring individual topics in greater depth should turn to the book’s ancillary website www.comporgchem.com, which offers updates and supporting information. Plus, every cited article that is available in electronic form is listed with a link to the article.

This book provides state-of-the-art information on how studies in applied theoretical organic chemistry are conducted. It highlights the many approaches and tools available to those interested in using computational chemistry to predict and rationalize structures and reactivity of organic molecules. Chapters not only describe theoretical techniques in detail, but also describe recent applications and offer practical advice.Authored by many of the world leaders in the field of applied theoretical chemistry, this book is perfect for both practitioners of computational chemistry and synthetic and mechanistic organic chemists curious about applying computational techniques to their research.Related Link(s)

This volume is devoted to the various aspects of theoretical organic chemistry. In the nineteenth century, organic chemistry was primarily an experimental, empirical science. Throughout the twentieth century, the emphasis has been continually shifting to a more theoretical approach. Today, theoretical organic chemistry is a distinct area of research, with strong links to theoretical physical chemistry, quantum chemistry, computational chemistry, and physical organic chemistry.The objective in this volume has been to provide a cross-section of a number of interesting topics in theoretical organic chemistry, starting with a detailed account of the historical development of this discipline and including topics devoted to quantum chemistry, physical properties of organic compounds, their reactivity, their biological activity, and their excited-state properties.

The papers in this volume were presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Porto Novo, Portugal, August 26 - September 8, 1990. The Institute has been able to cover a wide spectrum of the Theoretical and Computational Models for organic molecules and organic reactions, ranging from the ab initio to the more empirical approaches, in the tradition established in the previous Institutes at S. Feliu de Guixols (Spain) and Altinoluk (Turkey). The continuity with this work was achieved by inviting half of the lecturers present in those meetings. But other important subjects were also covered at Porto Novo by new lecturers, both from universities and the industry. Molecular Mechanics, Protein Structure and Unidimensional Models were introduced by the first time. The concept of building on the expertise already acquired and available, both in terms of methods and contents, to develop in new directions, was appreciated by participants and lecturers. The Institute first considered the fundamentals of molecular orbital computations and ab initio methods and the construction of Potential Energy Surfaces. These subjects were further explored in several applications related with optimization of equilibrium geometries and transition structures. Practical examples were studied in Tutorial sessions and solved in the computational projects making use of the Gaussian 88 and Gaussian 90 programs. Empirical models can be complementary to the quantum-mechanical ones in equilibrium geometry optimizations.

A range of alternative mechanisms can usually be postulated for most organic chemical reactions, and identification of the most likely requires detailed investigation. Investigation of Organic Reactions and their Mechanisms will serve as a guide for the trained chemist who needs to characterise an organic chemical reaction and investigate its mechanism, but who is not an expert in physical organic chemistry. Such an investigation will lead to an understanding of which bonds are broken, which are made, and the order in which these processes happen. This information and knowledge of the associated kinetic and thermodynamic parameters are central to the development of safe, efficient, and profitable industrial chemical processes, and to extending the synthetic utility of new chemical reactions in chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and academic environments. Written as a coherent account of the principal methods currently used in mechanistic investigations, at a level accessible to academic researchers and graduate chemists in industry, the book is highly practical in approach. The contributing authors, an international group of expert practitioners of the techniques covered, illustrate their contributions by examples from their own research and from the relevant wider chemical literature. The book covers basic aspects such as product analysis, kinetics, catalysis, and investigation of reactive intermediates. It also includes material on significant recent developments, e.g. computational chemistry, calorimetry, and electrochemistry, in addition to topics of high current industrial relevance, e.g. reactions in multiphase systems, and synthetically useful reactions involving free radicals and catalysis by organometallic compounds.