viii PREFACE The final important ques tion.we turn to the objective of the book.which is to identify the fundamental vocabulary and concepts of organic chemistry and present concise,accurate descrip- tions of them with examples when appropriate.It is not intended to be a dictionary but is organized into a sequence of chapters that reflect the way the subject is taught Related terms appear in close proximity to each other,and hence,fine distinct ons me understandable.Students and instructors may concentration ject matter into the essential a pects of the various topics overed.Inaddit we hope the book ill appeal toand prove useful to.many others in thech community who either in the recent past,or even remote past,were familiar with the topics defined,but whose precise knowledge of them has faded with time. In the course of writing this book,we drew generously from published books and articles,and we are grateful to the many authors who unknowingly contributed their expertise.We have also taken advantage of the special knowledge of some of our colleagues in the Department of Chemistry and we acknowledge them in appropri ate chapters MILTON ORCHIN ROGER S.MACOMBER ALLAN R.PINHAS R.MARSHALL WILSON viii PREFACE The final item that warrants examination is perhaps one that should take prece￾dence over others. Who should find this book useful? To answer this important ques￾tion, we turn to the objective of the book, which is to identify the fundamental vocabulary and concepts of organic chemistry and present concise, accurate descrip￾tions of them with examples when appropriate. It is not intended to be a dictionary, but is organized into a sequence of chapters that reflect the way the subject is taught. Related terms appear in close proximity to each other, and hence, fine distinctions become understandable. Students and instructors may appreciate the concentration of subject matter into the essential aspects of the various topics covered. In addition, we hope the book will appeal to, and prove useful to, many others in the chemical community who either in the recent past, or even remote past, were familiar with the topics defined, but whose precise knowledge of them has faded with time. In the course of writing this book, we drew generously from published books and articles, and we are grateful to the many authors who unknowingly contributed their expertise. We have also taken advantage of the special knowledge of some of our colleagues in the Department of Chemistry and we acknowledge them in appropri￾ate chapters. MILTON ORCHIN ROGER S. MACOMBER ALLAN R. PINHAS R. MARSHALL WILSON fpref.qxd 6/11/2005 9:31 AM Page viii