Fundamental Aliphatic Chemistry. Organic Chemistry For General Degree Students

Organic Chemistry for General Degree Students Vol. 1 Fundamental Aliphatic Chemistry P. W. G. SMITH and A. R. TATCHELL Senior Lecturers in Organic Chemistry, Woolwich Polytechnic Pergamon Press Oxford · London · Edinburgh · New York · Paris · Frankfurt PERGAMON PRESS LTD. PERGAMON PRESS (SCOTLAND) LTD. Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 4 & 5 Fitzroy Square, London W.l 2 & 3 Teviot Place Edinburgh 1 PERGAMON PRESS INC. 122 East 55th Street New York 22, N.Y. GAUTHIER-VILLARS ED. 55 Quai des Grands-Augustins Paris 6 PERGAMON PRESS G.m.b.H. Kaiserstrasse 75, Frankfurt am Main FEDERAL PUBLICATIONS LTD. Times House River Valley Road, Singapore SAMCAX BOOK SERVICES LTD. Queensway, P.O. Box 2720, Nairobi Kenya This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise disposed of without the publishers' consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. Copyright © 1965 PERGAMON PRESS LTD. First Edition 1965 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. Set in 10 on 12 Times New Roman 64-66138 Printed in Great Britain by SPOTTIS WOODE, BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY LONDON AND COLCHESTER Preface OUR object in writing a new textbook of organic chemistry has been to meet the particular needs of students reading for the B.Sc. General degree. The choice of material included in this first volume, which is devoted to the essential chemistry of aliphatic compounds, has been based broadly on the requirements for the Pt. I examination of the London General Internal degree. Two projected volumes will deal with aromatic and heterocyclic compounds, and with polyfunctional aliphatic compounds and selected additional mechanistic topics. These will provide a complete coverage of the material necessary not only for the final B.Sc. General examination, but also for the Pt. I examination for Graduate Membership of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, for courses leading to Higher National Certificates in Chemistry and for examinations of a similar standard. The organization of the subject-matter in this volume into the main functional classes is largely conventional but we have attempted to provide a comprehensive yet concise treatment of the principal general methods of preparation and reactions of the main aliphatic classes together with adequate practical detail, particularly concerning preparative methods of industrial importance. At the same time the necessary balance between practice and theory is maintained by the introduction of basic theoretical principles from the beginning and by as full a discussion as is possible, within the limits of a work of this size, of the more important reaction mechanisms. To avoid undue repetition, we have adopted a fairly extensive system of cross reference and have attempted to give practical detail concerning a particular reaction under 'general preparations' while providing the necessary theoretical discussion under 'general reactions', although it has not always been desirable to adhere rigidly to this system. A little elementary knowledge of the properties of simple aliphatic compounds, acquired for example through G.C.E. courses, vii Vlll PREFACE is assumed, and no attempt has been made to deal exhaustively with the properties or reactions of individual compounds, the emphasis being placed upon the chemistry of functional groups. We believe that, with the obvious omission of the more advanced mechanistic discussions, the treatment adopted will make the first two volumes a suitable basis for a course for Ordinary National Certificate students who intend to proceed to H.N.C. and higher qualifications. In the short selection of que