chemistry

Though a complete laboratory text with 50+ experiments, lab techniques, tables of unknowns and spectroscopy, the organic faculty prepare our own lab manual to be followed. Pavia text becomes a close handy reference for lab techniques and setup. The techniques section, which include filtration, crystallization, distillation (simple, fractional, and steam), chromatogrpahy (column, thin-layer, and gas)... should be carefully studied before conducting experiments for beginning students. Unless your organic lab course follows almost exactly the outline of experiments in this text, you can check it out from the library and read it.

I have taken a full course using this book and I think that it is the best one I have seen! Organic chemistry is a hard subject and this book lays it out in an understandable way. The "techniuques" section is current, readable, and the pictures are well done. The essays that accompany many of the experiments are entertaining and give good background information that helps doing the experiments more enjoyable. Probably the best section is the "identification of unknowns" section which lays out in a good logical way how to identify what you have in the lab. I think that the book also addresses and promotes a great trend in chemistry i.e. microscale research that reduces waste and promotes conservation of chemicals and the environment.