Book excerpt: Organic Chemistry, Volume 5-B: Oxidation in Organic Chemistry, Part B presents some of the most common and significant reactions in organic chemistry, which involves oxidation and reduction. This book provides detailed discussions of specific oxidants or topics concerning oxidation of organic compounds. Organized into four chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the specific oxidants, including thallium(III), cupric ion, and ruthenium tetroxide. This text then presents the scope and preparative use as well as the mechanistic aspects of the various oxidations. Other chapters consider the significance of phenolic oxidative coupling in nature's biosynthetic pathways. This book discusses as well the various mechanistic alternatives for the enzymic and non-enzymic reactions, which will lead to a fuller understanding of the enzymic mechanisms and the greater synthetic utility of this reaction. The final chapter deals with the oxidative coupling of phenols. This book is a valuable resource for organic chemists and research workers.