This text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students guides the reader through a smooth progression from the most elementary ideas of molecular orbital theory to an understanding of the electronic structure, geometry, and reactivity of large molecules. It starts with simple molecules and proceeds to relatively large organometallic complexes. The slant is theoretical, but in the last chapter the authors strengthen the link between theory and experiment. Focusing on basic concepts, the authors take a qualitative approach, which enables this text to fill a void in the undergraduate curriculum. The book is intended as a core or supplementary text in an advanced chemistry course.

Winner of the PROSE Award for Chemistry & Physics 2010 Acknowledging the very best in professional and scholarly publishing, the annual PROSE Awards recognise publishers' and authors' commitment to pioneering works of research and for contributing to the conception, production, and design of landmark works in their fields. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals, Wiley are pleased to congratulate Professor Ian Fleming, winner of the PROSE Award in Chemistry and Physics for Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions. Molecular orbital theory is used by chemists to describe the arrangement of electrons in chemical structures. It is also a theory capable of giving some insight into the forces involved in the making and breaking of chemical bonds—the chemical reactions that are often the focus of an organic chemist's interest. Organic chemists with a serious interest in understanding and explaining their work usually express their ideas in molecular orbital terms, so much so that it is now an essential component of every organic chemist's skills to have some acquaintance with molecular orbital theory. Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions is both a simplified account of molecular orbital theory and a review of its applications in organic chemistry; it provides a basic introduction to the subject and a wealth of illustrative examples. In this book molecular orbital theory is presented in a much simplified, and entirely non-mathematical language, accessible to every organic chemist, whether student or research worker, whether mathematically competent or not. Topics covered include: Molecular Orbital Theory Molecular Orbitals and the Structures of Organic Molecules Chemical Reactions — How Far and How Fast Ionic Reactions — Reactivity Ionic Reactions — Stereochemistry Pericyclic Reactions Radical Reactions Photochemical Reactions Slides for lectures and presentations are available on the supplementary website: www.wiley.com/go/fleming_student Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions: Student Edition is an invaluable first textbook on this important subject for students of organic, physical organic and computational chemistry. The Reference Edition edition takes the content and the same non-mathematical approach of the Student Edition, and adds extensive extra subject coverage, detail and over 1500 references. The additional material adds a deeper understanding of the models used, and includes a broader range of applications and case studies. Providing a complete in-depth reference for a more advanced audience, this edition will find a place on the bookshelves of researchers and advanced students of organic, physical organic and computational chemistry. Further information can be viewed here. "These books are the result of years of work, which began as an attempt to write a second edition of my 1976 book Frontier Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions. I wanted to give a rather more thorough introduction to molecular orbitals, while maintaining my focus on the organic chemist who did not want a mathematical account, but still wanted to understand organic chemistry at a physical level. I'm delighted to win this prize, and hope a new generation of chemists will benefit from these books." -Professor Ian Fleming

This book starts with the most elementary ideas of molecular orbital theory and leads the reader progressively to an understanding of the electronic structure, geometry and, in some cases, reactivity of transition metal complexes. The qualitative orbital approach, based on simple notions such as symmetry, overlap and electronegativity, is the focus of the presentation and a substantial part of the book is associated with the mechanics of the assembly of molecular orbital diagrams. The first chapter recalls the basis for electron counting in transition metal complexes. The main ligand fields (octahedral, square planar, tetrahedral, etc.) are studied in the second chapter and the structure of the "d block" is used to trace the relationships between the electronic structure and the geometry of the complexes. The third chapter studies the change in analysis when the ligands have pi-type interactions with the metal. All these ideas are then used in the fourth chapter to study a series of selected applications of varying complexity (e.g. structure and reactivity). The fifth chapter deals with the "isolobal analogy" which points out the resemblance between the molecular orbitals of inorganic and organic species and provides a bridge between these two subfields of chemistry. The last chapter is devoted to a presentation of basic Group Theory with applications to some of the complexes studied in the earlier chapters.

Provides a basic introduction to frontier orbital theory with a review of its applications in organic chemistry. Assuming the reader is familiar with the concept of molecular orbital as a linear combination of atomic orbitals the book is presented in a simple style, without mathematics making it accessible to readers of all levels.

This first introduction to the rapidly growing field of molecular magnetism is written with Masters and PhD students in mind, while postdocs and other newcomers will also find it an extremely useful guide. Adopting a clear didactic approach, the authors cover the fundamental concepts, providing many examples and give an overview of the most important techniques and key applications. Although the focus is one lanthanide ions, thus reflecting the current research in the field, the principles and the methods equally apply to other systems. The result is an excellent textbook from both a scientific and pedagogic point of view.

This text presents a unified and up-to-date discussion of the role of atomic and molecular orbitals in chemistry, from the quantum mechanical foundations to the recent developments and applications. The discussion is mainly qualitative, largely based on symmetry arguments. It is felt that a sound mastering of the concepts and qualitative interpretations is needed, especially when students are becoming more and more familiar with numerical calculations based on atomic and molecular orbitals. The text is mathematically less demanding than most traditional quantum chemistry books but still retains clarity and rigour. The physical insight is maximized and abundant illustrations are used. The relationships between the more formal quantum mechanical formalisms and the traditional chemical descriptions of chemical bonding are critically established. This book is of primary interest to undergraduate chemistry students and others taking courses of which chemistry is a significant part.

Written by one of the pioneers of the field, Frontier Orbitals is an essential practical guide to the successes and limitations of this theory. Applications are classified by chemical criteria: competition between reagents, sites or reaction trajectories. The steps involved in solving each problem, such as the choice of model, the calculation of molecular orbitals, and the interpretation of results, are explained. Numerous exercises are found throughout the text, and the full solution and references are given in each case. An extensive listing of MO’s is also given to allow those without access to a computer to work out the exercises. Practical advice is given for those wishing to do their own calculations. Frontier Orbitals is aimed at experimentalists who are well versed in organic chemistry but have little or no understanding of quantum mechanics. A greater emphasis is put on chemistry than on quantum mechanics, and the intelligent use of the rules rather than their mathematical derivation.