(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best organic chemistry books

> I know you said you have a book or something - PM me about that, I'm interested!

I've sent you a PM about the book. Glad to hear you're interested!

> What about this theory that floats around on the internet and that celebrities like Joe Rogan talk about that the pineal gland produces DMT, especially during sleep.

There is some evidence of DMT production in the pineal gland, but it's very scant at this stage. One study, last year (2013), showed trace amounts of DMT in the pineal glands of rats. This could mean that DMT is produced there, or somewhere else in the body and then stored/used there; however the amounts were far too limited to have any kind of psychedelic effect.

It's not extremely surprising, as DMT is chemically quite similar to the likes of serotonin and melatonin, so for it to form naturally in the brain isn't a huge jump biochemically speaking... it's also however not terribly interesting or useful until we know more about how much, when, why, and so on.

It could also however simply have been a freak occurrence. I'd like to see more studies being done to confirm it - especially with multiple species and animals of different ages (which may make a very large difference as well given the possible relationship between the pineal gland and the parietal eye that I mentioned).

> How did you learn as much as you know specifically about LSD?

It helps being old ;)

More seriously - I've simply read a lot and studied a lot with a critical mind. I'm a software developer professionally, but I've spent around 15 years of my free time learning and researching psychedelics and associated fields. I have no formal training, but I read university level textbooks on neuroscience, biochemistry, pharmacology and so on for fun.

Mostly, I'm just the kind of person that's both passionately curious about the world as well as being the kind of person that likes to critically analyse things. This helps to steer away from the mystical side of things (all very interesting, but lacking in anything even remotely similar to evidence) and keep me searching in more productive lines of enquiry.

> Any other books or references you'd be willing to share?

Hmmm... quite a lot.

"LSD" by Otto Snow is a good general purpose LSD book, with pretty detailed synthesis information that helps you understand the chemistry even if you're not actually planning on synthesising it yourself.

I'm not sure of your current level of skill, but if you need an intro, or refresher in to the basics of the right kind of chemistry, then Organic Chemistry I for Dummies is a great book according to my wife (who went from "no knowledge" to "able to at least understand what I'm talking about" just from this book).

For a "step-up" from there and getting to looking at the brain specifically, I'd start with (and continually go back to) Molecular Neuropharmacology: A Foundation for Clinical Neuroscience.

Aside from that, every research paper you can find dealing with related material. There's some good review papers as well for "summing up" a lot of others. One I really liked was "The Pharmacology of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: A Review" by Passie et al.

I also found some online courses to be really good. I recently did "Drugs and the Brain" on Coursera; it was definitely a good refresher for me, and would be excellent for anyone with a basic grounding but wanting to learn more in general. There's another on Coursera called "Medical Neuroscience", which I unfortunately missed, but will catch the next time around; and one coming up really soon titled "Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life" which I'll be doing but expect to be a somewhat simpler course than the others (I'll take it anyway - re-covering basics is always good because you do find things you've managed to miss no matter how long you've been learning).

Edit: One additional thing I should have mentioned... here on reddit, check out /r/drugnerds and maybe also /r/rationalpsychonaut

>I didn't say they wouldn't have to work hard or take advantage of other opportunities (Kahn academy, online tutoring, supplementary materials), but you implying that they can't under any circumstances achieve an education?

This sounds dangerously like bootstrap nonsense. Yeah, sure, an inner city kid can get a good education by going to their run-down public library and watching 4 hours of Kahn academy videos a day. Without any academic support system. Without a reinforcing social environment. Without a stress-free suburban lifestyle. (You'd be surprised how easy it is to study when you don't have to worry where your next meal is coming from.)

I'm a college student. My family is pretty well off. I consider myself ridiculously privileged compared to a less well-off peer:

• I don't have to spend 20 hours a week working, so I have more time to study, and i'm not tired or stressed out when I do.
  
• I don't have to stress out about loans, or spend hours doing paperwork and arguing with student loan companies
  
• I can afford brand new laptops, the newest editions of the textbooks, plus any supplementary material I choose, without worrying about it.
  
• I can afford the best tutors, prep classes, prep books, etc
  
• I can freely take summer classes (where no financial aid is available), giving me a leg-up for the next year.
  
• I have a car, which allows me to do many simple tasks (grocieries, doctor's appointments, etc.) much faster than if I had to bike or take public transport. Again, more time to study or relax.
  
  Far from an exhaustive list. And that's just the privilege of being upper middle compared to regular middle class. Think about what you're saying.

Yeah, sorry about that. I'm an idiot. I was reading on my phone and didn't scroll before I replied.

For organic, Solomons is good. I learned on that first and liked it quite a bit. I've also TAed using Carey/Giuliano which is a good book too. I liked Solomons more, but probably because I was more familiar with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-T-Graham-Solomons/dp/0470401419/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346010987&sr=1-1&keywords=solomon+fryhle+organic

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Francis-Carey/dp/007735477X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346011101&sr=1-1&keywords=carey+giuliano+organic
Prices are steep, so maybe look for an old edition, unless you're positive you can use a new one wherever you go.

If you're pretty confident in your organic stuff, you can look at Dave Evans organic class (he is a professor at Harvard and posted some great notes here http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k7863 )

It might also help to read up on some organometallic chemistry. I this book
http://www.amazon.com/Organometallic-Chemistry-Gary-O-Spessard/dp/0195330994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346011303&sr=1-1&keywords=organometallic+chemistry
It was ok, but there might be better out there. Maybe some other people will have some input.

A good physical organic book is http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Physical-Organic-Chemistry-Anslyn/dp/1891389319/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346011407&sr=1-1&keywords=physical+organic+chemistry
It's a dense book. This book also doesn't focus a whole lot on reactivity if I remember correctly. It does a lot of explaining the underlying physics of what happens in organic reactions.

For biochem, I can't help you. I took intro bio and ran the other direction, so more power to you.

I've never really used books except for organic Chemistry.

For organic Chemistry I first used this (Prof used it in the lecture): http://www.springer.com/springer+spektrum/chemie/organische+chemie/book/978-3-642-36592-8

which is terrible, don't use that!

Many people say this is pretty good but on the other hand Vollhardt is teaching at Berkeley and it's just a translation which brings me to the point: most good german text books are just translated english ones.

I personally like the Warren but I'm using it in english, not sure if there's a german version but imo the best basic org.chem book.

A really good book written by a german is this, I guess that one is translated in english too. But it's for an advanced level and there it can easily blow your mind ;-)

Well, I didn't take AP chem. To be honest, I actually got a D in chemistry my junior year of high school. Worst grade I ever got - in my defense I skipped more in high school than I went to class. Funny how it's my major. Anyway, you'll definitely take general chemistry before orgo, and even with a D in high school chem, I ended up getting an A in gen chem 1 and 2. Gen chem 1 was a lot like high school chemistry. You just have to study your ass off, and make yourself get to the point where you thoroughly understand the concept. DON'T JUST memorize the formulas. The thing is, high school chemistry is just like general chemistry.

Once you're in gen chem, you have to start adapting your brain to thinking like a scientist. As I said, make it point to understand why things are. You can't do this for everything (i.e. things that require quantum mechanics) but a good chunk of the stuff is pretty intuitive if you think about it. Master this skill of striving to learn why. It'll help you not only in orgo, but in any other class you take as well. It just so happens that this skill is especially important in orgo.

If you want to start getting familiar with orgo, start learning nomenclature of organic compounds. Start simple with alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, and then move on to (R)- and (S)-, (E)- and (Z)-, and then other functional groups. I never used any supplemental materials but I've heard good things about this book - only 7 bucks used on Amazon.

I prepare for my medical classes using those books:

Campbell Biology (10th Edition), truly an amazing piece of work would really encourage reading it, clear explination of concepts that people seem to forget when they progress further into the subjects

Chemistry: The Central Science (13th Edition), perfect referal in case you forget vital concepts of chemistry, works out well but fails in the orgainc chemisty

And for further reference we need to also buy even though some of the fact are outdated Organic Chemistry with Mastering Chemistry and Solution Manual (8th Edition), I found that this has a really sturdy and "enjoyable" methods(yes I enjoy what I study), and this is just half of it.

Now personally I have a "side job" that is paying me off really well and I couldn't even complain about it, but for most students they need even more books for "reference", education should be for free, I personally will not lie and straight out tell you that I upload these books on several websites, some in my session rely on much older books to study. I do support the fact that people should be rewarded for their efforts, yet not take it out on people, I really think the governments should fund & pay them instead.

The best one-stop introduction, I think, to all facets of catalysis is Rothenberg's nice little book:

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-3527318240.html

https://www.amazon.com/Catalysis-Concepts-Applications-Gadi-Rothenberg/dp/3527318240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469391946&sr=8-1&keywords=Catalysis%3A+Concepts+and+Green+Applications

It's excellent basic coverage and doesn't limit itself to one aspect such as homogeneous catalysis or heterogeneous catalysis. And then you can go to slightly more advanced and specialized books. The following has a great discussion of some of the fundamentals (and somewhat extended treatment of kinetics aspects):

https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Modern-Catalysis-Kinetics-Chorkendorff/dp/3527316728/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41n0-wkRlSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR110%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=35FPPJJG79MZR5X37HRS

The following have some intro material and have great sections about applications:

https://www.amazon.com/Catalysis-Principles-Applications-Matthias-Beller/dp/352732349X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=35FPPJJG79MZR5X37HRS

https://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Catalysis-Practical-Jens-Hagen/dp/3527331654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469392208&sr=8-1&keywords=Industrial+Catalysis%3A+A+Practical+Approach

You could try Collman's book, http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Applications-Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry/dp/0935702512 that was sort of the classic for a long time, but of course it's missing the past 20 years or so of progress.

Hartwig's more recent text book http://www.amazon.com/Organotransition-Metal-Chemistry-Bonding-Catalysis/dp/189138953X/ is sort of supposed to be the successor to Collman's book but it's extremely dense and a bit hard to just sit down and read.

This book http://www.amazon.com/Synthesis-Organometallic-Compounds-Practical-Inorganic/dp/0471970700 could be fun for you if your library has it.

Another classic: http://www.amazon.com/Problems-Solutions-Organometallic-Chemistry-Kegley/dp/0935702237 that one's fun to go through.

In all cases if you find examples, etc that are interesting to you, go to the references and read the original paper!

I would also definitely recommend starting to follow relevant published research, the ACS journal "Organometallics" being an obvious starting point (http://pubs.acs.org/journal/orgnd7)

Hey y’all – I wrote an eBook (available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Techniques-Explained-Laymans-ebook/dp/B077SB3ZKF/ref=sr_1_79?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1535808939&sr=1-79&keywords=organic+chemistry) that explains all of the first semester lab techniques in easy-to-understand language. I understand Orgo lab can already be a difficult class “as-is,” so if you’re looking for a cheap resource to kick-start your understanding, the eBook may be a good fit for you. The reviews I’ve received so far have been positive, but if you download it and aren’t satisfied, please let me know how I could improve. Thanks in advance for checking it out!

You can choose to believe me or not. This was my organic chemistry text, for example. That same class also required a subscription to online chemistry software that wasn’t cheap, but it was ~10 years ago, so I don’t remember the cost for it. I also needed to get the lab manual and the solutions manual. The current edition is $380 for the text and solutions manual on amazon . IIRC, a new edition came out between my first and second semester of that class, so I had to buy it twice. Classes were often 3-4 credits, so 5 classes would be 15-20 credits (my university maxed out at 19 per semester, but you could petition for more if you wanted). Labs were 1 credit, and sometimes the manual was ~$100 and you couldn’t get it used. I averaged around 18 credits per semester with 2-3 of those credits being labs. So five classes, plus two of the accompanying labs... it adds up quickly.

I didn’t always spend $1,000 on books in a semester, but it happened more frequently than it should have.

If you're going to take it a second time (and haven't already used this book) I'd like to recommend my former O Chem professor's book. It's a pretty cheap book and super helpful! Depending on your professor's approach, the subject may never be the same (in a good way)! Caution: do not try to save money by getting the first edition. The second is totally worth it. I've seen and used both and there's a legitimate difference.

From which background are you asking this? Because from a chemistry point of view this seems like a silly question because the knowledge growths and changes each day.
From the perspective of an interested citizen with the goal of an broad education a single good general chemistry book like Zumdahl/Chemistry contains enough knowledge about chemistry for a lifetime.

If you want to build a doomsday proof bible of chemical knowledge or want to bolster your library as a scientist from another scientific branch like biology or physics you could alsocome quite close to capturing the most important knowledge. For this approach I would take the existing "bibles" for subtopics of chemistry like organic chemistry like Bruise/Organic Chemistry. I would at least take specific books from organic, inorganic, physical, analytical chemistry aswell as biochemistry. Most of these bibles have 1000+ pages so this "book" with 6000+ pages could maybe contain something like 50% of the knowledge about chemistry by todays standards.

Honestly, if you are willing to spend a bit of money, David Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language is concise, fun to read, and gives a deep understanding of orgo. I highly recommend it, and it was a huge help to me when I took it. You may want to start with the first and buy the second if the first appeals to you.

Semester 1

Semester 2

The textbook my organic chemistry class (undergrad) uses is the one by Bruice. It's pretty good at explaining the mechanisms and relevance of most things and it also has quite a lot of practice problems. There were a few things my professor would complain about like using bromomethane as a reagent at room temperature (which was him just being nit-picky), but it does well as a resource for organic chemistry.

My analytical class used the Harris book which seemed like a good resource. I only read through two of the chapters in it so I can't say much for the entire contents.

I have both books sitting in my room if anyone has any questions on them.

> organic chemistry book for .50

If it's this one, you can trade it in for $29.53 credit, free shipping. This one will net you $30.48. This one will net you $35.97. And this one will net you $39.87.

Always check www.amazon.com/tradein - you'll save on fees, shipping, and time.

With textbooks I would sell ASAP, because new editions come out every year or every few years.

these are some good books; when i was an undergrad the second semester one was really helpful; both as a second introduction of the material and as a good reference

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Second-Language-Translating/dp/0470129298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310452151&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-II-Second-Language/dp/0471738085/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310452151&sr=8-2

If not that text book, which has protecting groups and the like, what specifically? Something like "this is how you make this compound from these materials"? That is organic chemistry and mechanisms, you have to apply logic and put together reasonable synthesis from things like aldol mechs, Micheal reactions, Wittig Reactions, SNx reactions ect. If you want case specific synthesis that have been meticulously optimized then you will have to read either from Organic Letters and/or Synthesis places like this are the only places where you can get a plethora of case specific reactions, but again if you want to figure out how to make other compounds, logical deduction must be used. If you are just looking for lab procedures, check out the synthetic organic chemist's companion

This is a great book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Synthetic-Organic-Chemists-Companion/dp/0470107073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367518041&sr=8-1&keywords=synthetic+organic+chemists+companion

And this is a great online resource (not as detailed though) - http://chem-ilp.net/

Oh and this - http://chem.chem.rochester.edu/~nvd/

You're not clear about what you want to learn in chemistry -- do you want to do more practical stuff (organic synthesis / physical chemistry) or do you just want to know how molecules/atoms behave (organic chemistry ,biochemistry, physical chemistry , quantummechanics?

Wrt to doing synthesis 'on your own': these days, doing chemistry outside a lab is seen as something 'very dangerous', because only trrrrists and clandestine drug-making chemists are interested in chemistry.

This is what came with my class's textbook - if you bought the textbook. It's a pretty crappy kit, but it had one neat gimmick in that you could do a cyclohexane ring flip and have it show what happened to the various positions.

Another upside though, is that it's cheap.

Wow, I thought that language majors paid less for books than I do (science major). My most expensive yet was $250 for [Organic Chemistry] (http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Janice-Smith/dp/007340277X) with online access.

I can forgive it for new, expensive science, but jesus christ, a spanish book.

Here's the ones recommended by Albizati:

Model 1

Model 2

Model 3

You could settle for anything from Amazon though. They all practically do the same thing

Video:
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KfheXm7DlU&list=PLqOZ6FD_RQ7nqVjmYjBSZOkjln_K31ATj

Textbook:
https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Janice-Gorzynski-Smith/dp/0078021553/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1538341182&sr=8-11&keywords=Organic+Chemistry

https://www.amazon.com/Vogels-Textbook-Practical-Organic-Chemistry/dp/0582462363/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538341219&sr=8-1&keywords=vogel%27s+textbook+of+practical+organic+chemistry

The UCI video course seems to follow Janice's OChem book chapter by chapter so you can follow along while watching the video courses. They also have advanced OChem courses posted on their YT channel .

This 100%. And if you haven't purchased them already, Organic Chemistry as a Second Language is a must. Not sure which textbook is currently being used but try to find a used copy of any recent edition of the Solomons ⁠text—if you can do the problem sets at the end of the chapters you should be in decent shape for any undergraduate exam. I hope they aren't using Klein's book.

For organic chemistry, Vogel’s practical organic chemistry:

https://www.amazon.com/Vogels-Textbook-Practical-Organic-Chemistry/dp/0582462363

This one?

http://www.amazon.com/Vogels-Textbook-Practical-Organic-Chemistry/dp/0582462363

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-I-For-Dummies/dp/0764569023/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WP4MMA938E9S3K520QD

https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Paula-Yurkanis-Bruice/dp/0321803221/

This was the book I used - just an earlier edition.

Organic Chemistry by Gorzynski Smith was fantastic. Filled with examples, explanations, color coded, diagrams, etc. It made a really difficult subject... Less difficult.