Concerted Organic and Bio-Organic Mechanisms

Book excerpt: The concept of concerted mechanisms was formulated nearly 90 years ago and virtually all general organic chemistry texts mention it. Until now, however, no monograph has addressed the concept explicitly. Over the last two decades, substantial advancements made in the development of precise methods for elucidating concerted mechanisms have heightened the need for a comprehensive text on the subject. Concerted Organic and Bio-organic Mechanisms gathers the salient materials related to this emerging field into a single text. It sets forth the precise definition of concertedness-along with working sub-definitions-and describes rigorous experimental tools chemists can use to diagnose the existence or absence of concerted mechanisms. Advances in our understanding of concerted mechanisms lead to further questions. Concerted Organic and Bio-organic Mechanisms provides the background and the tools researchers need to consider these important questions and further advance the frontiers of reactions, synthesis, and catalysis.