Book excerpt: Written by a "who is who" of leading organic chemists, this anniversary volume represent the Organic Reactions editors' choice of the most important, ground-breaking and versatile reactions in current organic synthesis. The 15 reaction types selected for this volume include reactions for carbon-carbon bond formation, cross-coupling reactions, hydro- and halofunctionalizations, among many others. In line with the successful recipe of the series, each chapter is focused on a single reaction, discussing its mechanism and stereochemistry, scope and limitations, applications to synthesis, comparison with other methods, and experimental procedures. Each chapter concludes with a tabular survey of selected key application examples, complete with reported reaction conditions and yields, to serve as a quick reference guide for synthesis planning.