Book excerpt: The book 'A Textbook of Organic Chemistry' was first published 40 years ago. Over the years it has become students’ favourite because it explains the subject in the most student-friendly way and is revised regularly to keep itself updated with the latest in research. This edition presents the modern-day basic principles and concepts of the subject as per the CBCS of UGC guidelines. Special emphasis has been laid on the mechanism and electronic interpretation of reactions of the various classes of compounds. It provides a basic foundation of the subject so that based on these, students are able to extrapolate, predict and solve challenging problems. New in this Edition • A new chapter 'Energy in Biosystems' explores the fundamentals of biochemical reactions involved in storage as well as continuous usage of energy in biosystems. • Structural theories like VB and MO, hybridization and orbital pictures of resonance, and hyperconjugation. • Woodward-Fieser rules for calculating ?max, and Norrisch type I and II reactions of special photochemical C-C cleavage in the chapter on 'Electromagnetic Spectrum'. • Polanyi-Hammond postulates and Curtin-Hammett principle, along with several new mechanisms, e.g., Favorskii, Baeyer-Villiger, and Birch, in Chapter 5. • McMurry, Wittig, Stobbe, Darzen in Chapter 19. • Study of antibiotics, antacids and antihistamines in the chapter on 'Chemotherapy'. • Biodegradable and conducting plastics in the chapter on 'Synthetic Polymers and Plastics'. • Benefits of 'Green Chemistry'—the latest trend for sustainable chemistry as Appendix II.