During the past two decades several texts in the areas of stereochemistry
and conformational analysis have been published, including
Stereochemistry of Carbon Compounds (Eliel, McGraw-Hill, 1962)
and Con formationa2 Analysis (Eliel, Allinger, Angyal, and Morrison,
Interscience, 1965). While the writing of these books’was stimulated
by the high level of research activity in the area of stereochemistry,
it has, in turn, spurred further activity. As a result, many of the
details found in these texts are already inadequate or out of date,
although the student in stereochemistry and conformational analysis
may still learn the basic concepts of the subject from them.
For both human and economic reasons, standard textbooks can
be revised only at infrequent intervals. Yet the spate of periodical
publications in the field of stereochemistry is such that it is an
almost hopeless task for anyone to update himself by reading all the
original literature. The present series is designed to bridge the resulting
gap.