Organic Chemistry: An Introduction Emphasizing Biological Connections

This text directly addresses the needs of pre-med and life science majors who traditionally constitute the bulk of the student body enrolled in introductory chemistry courses by introducing organic chemistry in the first year. Since organic chemistry does not draw heavily on quantitative problem-solving, teaching organic chemistry in the first year can help students with weak math backgrounds. The text successfully integrates the biological applications of chemistry early on, so life science majors are better prepared for lab work, summer internships, and undergraduate research work.The book's content assumes no previous college-level chemistry. As the only book on the market designed to teach basic chemical concepts within the context of organic chemistry, the pace is suited to mainstream freshman classes, with background material introduced only as needed.Worked-out example problems lead students carefully through the reasoning process.Since it is geared to biologists, the text focuses less on the traditional material of sophomore organic chemistry and concentrates only on that material needed to learn biological processes.The book covers the applications of organic chemistry throughout, rather than relegating them to a few chapters near the end. This approach continually reinforces and builds upon students' learning of key concepts and the real-world applications of chemistry.