Organic Chemistry is a broad and complex subject. To understand and achieve a practical mastery of it requires an evaluation of interacting, and often competing principles and factors. These factors do not generally lend themselves to a quantitative treatment, so qualitative judgements as to their relative importance are necessary. As preparation for the study of organic chemistry, six important principles to which repeated reference will be made are listed on the left. By clicking on a name, the nature of the factor will be defined and illustrated. It is suggested that a review of these factors be made before using the on-line textual materials.

If your computer is properly configured to display Jmol applets, you should see a group of molecules moving about in the space below.