The chemistry of reactive intermediates is central to a modern mechanistic and
quantitative understanding of organic chemistry. Moreover, it underlies a significant
portion of modern synthetic chemistry, and is frequently integral to a molecular
view of biological chemistry. In the early 1980s, several books or series focused on
the area, including three volumes of Reactive Intermediates by Abramovitch, three
volumes of the same title by Jones and Moss, and Reactive Molecules by Wentrup.
These authors and editors attempted to survey the entire panoply of reactive
intermediates and to highlight their centrality to mechanistic organic chemistry.