In this day and age, with Google and Science Finder Scholar, you may think that scientific books are becoming obsolete. While this may be true in some cases, it is certainly not true for the "Solvent-Free Organic Synthesis". This fabulous book is a testament to the success of the solvent-free reactions, which are one of the cornerstones of green chemistry. By abolishing the use of solvents, many of which are typically toxic, the reactions become more environmentally friendly and thus "green". The reactions which are covered typically give excellent yields and high purity of the products. The strongest feature of the book is that it gives short preps for various solid-state syntheses. These preps have been extracted from various journals which are quoted, so one can look up the original references. The style of this book is reminiscent of the classic book by Hickinbottom ("Reactions of Organic Compounds").

I have compared several short preps to the experimental sections of the original papers and have found out that the author indeed has extracted the best from the papers. In addition, my students have done several of these reactions with good success. The organization of the book is by the type of the organic reactions. There are 15 chapters, which are devoted to the reductions, oxidations, bond formations between carbon- carbon, carbon-oxygen, carbon-sulfur, carbon-phosphorous, carbon-halogen, nitrogen-nitrogen and nitrogen-sulfur, and various reaction types, such as rearrangements, eliminations, protections, deprotections, polymerizations, and supramolecular complexations. All the reaction equations are shown in clear graphics and with notations which have the basic reaction conditions. I recommend this book most enthusiastically, for instructors and advanced students.