The Chemistry Of Plants Perfumes Pigments And Poisons 2nd Edition

This new edition of a popular book, eases access to organic chemistry by connecting it with the world of plants and their colours, fragrances and defensive mechanisms.

This book is an introduction to organic chemistry and its compounds as related to plants. Chemistry tends to be seen as a field that is hard to comprehend and that has few connections with the living world. This book fills a gap as it eases access to organic chemistry by connecting it with plants and includes numerous photos and other illustrations. The book is a combination of organic chemistry with the living world of plants and is an introduction to organic plant compounds for the non-chemist. It starts with a review of basic concepts of chemistry as they relate to plant life, followed by an introduction to structures of organic compounds, which prepares the reader for the following chapters on primary metabolites and on plant fragrances, pigments, and plant defensive compounds. The final chapter relates plant compounds to human life, with subchapters on foods from plants, medicines, psychoactives, fibers, and dyes. Historic discoveries of plant compounds and their developments to contemporary uses, like modern pharmaceuticals, and a section on genetically modified plants, connect with topics of recent interest. The book leads the serious reader from chemistry basics to complex plant substances and their human uses and plant photos and stories accompany chemistry topics and chemical structures to aid understanding. The author, an organic chemist and plant enthusiast, has taught popular undergraduate college level courses on plant chemistry to non-chemistry majors and numerous field seminars to the general public for more than fifteen years. The book's topics and contents have been taught for many years and have proved successful in providing an understanding of plant compounds, organic compounds, and their importance. The book provides a basis for a better understanding of chemistry and its connections to the world of plants, the natural world in general, and to daily life. It is aimed at non-chemistry undergraduate students and to people in general who are interested in plants and who would like to learn more about them. It addresses an audience with little previous chemistry knowledge, yet, leads the serious reader to an understanding of sometimes complex plant compounds, by providing an introduction to chemistry basics, combining the chemistry with pictures and stories, and using simple, clear language. The book can be used both as a text to introduce organic chemistry as it relates to plants and as a text of reference for more advanced readers.

Have you ever wondered how plants attract certain insects, or how insects communicate with each other? This book explains the natural chemical compounds that determine the fascinating interactions between plants and insects providing a gentle and absorbing introduction to organic chemistry that is highly relevant to everyday life and to the natural world. Specific organic compounds and intriguing chemistry determine whether insects are keen on feeding on plants or avoid certain plants altogether. Some insects have learned to use plant compounds as their own defences, and some plants use digestive processes to use insects as nutritional supplements. Plant-insect interactions are vital for our food supply, for pollination of orchards or detrimentally in insect infestations of crops, as well as in applications like silk production. By the author of the popular book, The Chemistry of Plants: Perfumes, Pigments, and Poisons, this book benefits from Margareta Séquin’s vast experience leading field trips and seminars to botanical gardens and nature reserves, and teaching chemistry to beginners. Organic chemistry is often seen as a challenging, sometimes abstract field. This book makes chemistry exciting and accessible for readers interested in a deeper understanding of the natural world. The book is organized according to the increasing complexity of compounds introduced, and so it also serves as a useful teaching aid for undergraduate chemistry or biology courses, and as a supplementary text for students in plant sciences, ecology, and entomology, and in horticultural programs.

The Green Thread: Dialogues with the Vegetal World is an interdisciplinary collection of essays in the emerging field of Plant Studies. The volume is the first of its kind to bring together a dynamic body of scholarship that shares a critique of long-standing human perceptions of plants as lacking autonomy, agency, consciousness, and, intelligence. The leading metaphor of the book—“the green thread”, echoing poet Dylan Thomas’ phrase “the green fuse”—carries multiple meanings. On a more apparent level, “the green thread” is what weaves together the diverse approaches of this collection: an interest in the vegetal that goes beyond single disciplines and specialist discourses, and one that not only encourages but necessitates interdisciplinary and even interspecies dialogue. On another level, “the green thread” links creative and historical productions to the materiality of the vegetal—a reality reflecting our symbiosis with oxygen-producing beings. In short, The Green Thread refers to the conversations about plants that transcend strict disciplinary boundaries as well as to the possibility of dialogue with plants.

The biochemistry of plant pigments attracts continuing interest and research from a wide range of pure and applied biochemists and plant scientists. In many areas the first two editions of Professor Goodwin's Chemistry and Biochemistry of Plant Pigments have been overtaken by research and the need for a new, up-to-date summary has become pressing. This new book was conceived in response to this need. The burgeoning literature mitigates against a comprehensive treatment. Instead Professor Goodwin has identified seven topics which represent growing points in plant pigment research and has invited experts to prepare critical reviews of recent developments in them. The resulting book is an essential companion to the earlier volumes and will ensure that workers in this field are absolutely up to date with the latest thinking.

Ever wondered how perfumes are developed? Or why different scents appeal to different people? The Chemistry of Fragrances 2nd Edition offers answers to these questions, providing a fascinating insight into the perfume industry, from the conception of an idea to the finished product. It discusses the technical, artistic and commercial challenges of the perfume industry in an informative and engaging style, with contributions from leading experts in the field. The book begins with a historical introduction and covers all aspects of the development process - from customer brief to producing a fragrance including; * Ingredients acquisition * Ingredient design and manufacture * Design and analysis of fragrance * Sensory aspects including odour perception * Psychological impact of fragrance * Technical challenges * Safety An updated section on the measurement of fragrance discusses the role of senses in marketing consumer products. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the perfumery business and includes an extensive bibliography to enable those interested to explore the field further. It also comes complete with a selection of colour illustrations and a fragranced page.

Terpenoids play an important part in all our lives, from Vitamin A and hormones to perfumes and pharmaceuticals. This book provides an introduction to terpenoid chemistry, concentrating on the lower terpenoids, but the basic principles taught are also the foundation for the chemistry of the higher terpenoids. Coverage includes: the biogenesis of terpenoids; some of the history of the field; the principles of structural determination; and the importance of stereochemistry and stereoselective synthesis. Carbocation chemistry is introduced, as are the principles of total and partial synthesis. Finally, industrial chemistry (both discovery chemistry and chemical process development) is discussed, using the volatile terpenoids of perfumery to illustrate basic concepts. Ideal as both an introduction to terpenoid chemistry and as a refresher course, A Fragrant Introduction to Terpenoid Chemistry, with its real-life problems and appreciation of the relevance of chemistry to everyday life, will prove invaluable to students, lecturers and industrialists alike.