Organic Chemistry by G. Marc Loudon is a textbook that students will actually want to read. This much-anticipated fourth edition continues its predecessors' popular and unique mechanistic approach within a functional group framework.

Enhanced biological and biochemical material makes it ideal for chemistry majors as well as pre-medical and pre-pharmacy students taking a full-year, sophomore- level course. Loudon's excellent use of language and reader-friendly style transform organic chemistry into a logical, understandable, and exciting subject for students.In use at undergraduate and graduate schools of all levels, this authoritative yet accessible volume is packed with effective analogies that enliven and clarify rigorous discussions of important concepts. For example, Loudon uses a flute player jumping between musical octaves to explain transitions between quantum levels. An engaging detective with combined characteristics from Sherlock Holmes and James Bond depicts resonance structures. Thanks to humorous characters like Flick Flask flinger and Professor Havno Scentz, problem-solving becomes simultaneously challenging and entertaining. Varying from the routine to the complex, Loudon's problems are renowned for their originality, their range of difficulty levels, and their ability to teach students to understand and predict organic reactivity rather than just memorize facts. In addition, Loudon blends biological, environmental, and industrial applications of organic chemistry into the body of the text--rather than separating them as "special topics"--giving students an integrated sense of the subject in its real-life context.