Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive review of the structural, conformational, and chemical manifestations of the anomeric effect. In order to present a cogent discussion of this most fundamental and relevant phenomenon, three chapters examine our present understanding of the origin of this conformational effect, based upon a wealth of theoretical and physical data. Equally important, however, are three additional chapters that deal with the general consequences of the stereoelectronic interactions that are associated with the basis of the anomeric effect. The remainder of the book is devoted to new areas of development in the topic-such as differentiation of the endo and exo anomeric interactions, specific analysis of the enthalpic component of anomeric effects, critical evaluation of the kinetics and reverse anomeric effects, discovery of a new substantial effect in second- and lower-row anomeric segments, and others.