Organic Chemistry — S.Y.B.Sc. (Semester III & IV)
Himalaya Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. · Sixteenth Edition (2019)
Organic Chemistry by R.S. Rao, Dr. Sushil Puniyani, Prof. Dr. A.K. Upadhyay, and Dr. Tanuja Parulekar is a well-established textbook tailored for B.Sc. second-year students covering Semester III and IV of organic chemistry. Published by Himalaya Publishing House, this book has seen sixteen editions since its first release in 1995 — a testament to how consistently it has been updated to stay aligned with changing university syllabi. The sixteenth edition (2019) follows the revised syllabus prescribed by the University of Mumbai under UGC guidelines, and the structure works comfortably for almost every Indian university running a comparable B.Sc. programme with only minor local variations.
What Makes This Book Stand Out
Most organic chemistry textbooks either drown you in theory or read like a catalogue of reactions. This one sits somewhere in the middle, and that balance is probably why it has survived on college reading lists for over two decades. The theoretical groundwork — acidity, basicity, tautomerism, resonance, hydrogen bonding — is laid out carefully before the book moves into reaction territory. Students who struggled with these foundations in their first year will find the early chapters genuinely useful for revision.
Where the book really earns its place is in the way reaction mechanisms are presented. Electron shifts are shown clearly with curved arrows, which is the one thing a learner actually needs while studying for an exam at midnight. Every IUPAC name sits alongside its trivial equivalent, so you are never left guessing which naming convention the examiner expects. The chapter on organometallic compounds — specifically organomagnesium and organolithium reagents — was introduced specifically in response to syllabus changes, and it fits well with the Grignard reactions discussed later in the carbonyl chapter.
- Curved-arrow reaction mechanisms with clearly marked electron shifts
- IUPAC nomenclature paired with trivial names throughout
- Charts, tables, and potential energy diagrams for visual clarity
- Dedicated chapter on organometallic compounds (Grignard and organolithium)
- Interconversion of organic compounds explained with worked examples
- Practice questions and exercises at the end of each chapter
- Introduction to simple heterocyclic chemistry
- Aligned with UGC-revised syllabus for Semester III and IV
Detailed Index & Chapter Breakdown
The book is organised across two semesters with a total of twelve chapters, each mapped to specific lecture hours as prescribed by the syllabus. What follows is the complete table of contents.
Semester III
| Chapter | Topic | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alkyl Halides (SN1, SN2, SNi mechanisms, stereochemistry) | 3–14 |
| 2 | Aryl Halides (nucleophilic aromatic substitution, benzyne mechanism) | 15–23 |
| 3 | Organomagnesium and Organolithium Compounds | 24–41 |
| 4 | Alcohols (preparation, hydrogen bonding, acidity, reactions) | 42–64 |
| 5 | Phenols (preparation, acidic character, resonance stabilisation) | 65–86 |
| 6 | Epoxides (preparation, ring-opening reactions) | 87–95 |
| 7 | Carbonyl Compounds (aldehydes & ketones, mechanisms, tautomerism) | 96–137 |
Semester IV
| Chapter | Topic | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Carboxylic Acids and their Derivatives (acyl substitution, Claisen condensation) | 141–172 |
| 9 | Sulphonic Acids (preparation, acidity, IPSO substitution) | 173–182 |
| 10 | Amines (basicity, preparation, Hofmann reactions) | 183–206 |
| 11 | Diazonium Salts (Sandmeyer, Gattermann, azo coupling) | 207–218 |
| 12 | Heterocyclic Compounds (furan, pyrrole, thiophene, pyridine) | 219–240 |
The Semester III portion carries the heavier load in terms of foundational mechanisms — nucleophilic substitution, Grignard chemistry, and carbonyl reactions occupy the bulk of the lecture hours. Semester IV then builds on that base, moving into acid derivatives, nitrogen-containing compounds, and finally an introduction to heterocyclic chemistry that most students encounter for the first time here.
Who Should Read This Book
The intended audience is straightforward: B.Sc. first- and second-year students studying organic chemistry under the semester system. It is written for S.Y.B.Sc. (Second Year B.Sc.) learners, though first-year students looking to get a head start on reaction mechanisms will find the early chapters accessible. The content assumes you already know basic aliphatic chemistry from your first year — the focus here shifts to aromatic compounds and the mechanisms that govern them.
Because the syllabus structure is common across Indian universities under the UGC framework, students from Mumbai University (the official anchor syllabus), Delhi University, Pune University, and most state universities will find the chapter sequence familiar. Minor reordering of topics or slight differences in lecture-hour allocation are the only adjustments a student might need to make. If your professor prescribes a particular reaction order, the book's modular chapter design lets you jump between topics without losing context.
It is equally useful as a quick-reference companion during revision. The tables and PE diagrams are dense with information but never cluttered, and the end-of-chapter exercises are close enough to typical exam question patterns that working through them pays off.