This is a list of important publications in chemistry, organized by field. Some factors that correlate with publication notability include: *Topic creator – A publication that created a new topic. *Breakthrough – A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly. *Influence – A publication which has significantly influenced the world or has had a massive impact on the teaching of chemistry.

Foundations

The Sceptical Chymist

* The Sceptical Chymist -

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders ...

1661 Description: Boyle, in the form of a dialogue, argued that chemical theories should be firmly grounded in experiment before their acceptance, and for the foundation of chemistry as a science separate from

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

and

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...

. Importance: Topic Creator, Influence. Boyle, in this book, became the first to argue that experiment should form the basis of all theory, a common practice in chemistry today. He also expounded on a rudimentary

atomic theory Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. Atomic theory traces its origins to an ancient philosophical tradition known as atomism. According to this idea, if one were to take a lump of matter ...

and the existence of chemical elements beyond the classic earth, fire, air, and water. He is seen as the father of chemistry, and this is his most celebrated book, with continued relevance to the present day.

Traité Élémentaire de Chimie

Traité Élémentaire de Chimie ''Traité élémentaire de chimie'' (''Elementary Treatise on Chemistry'') is a textbook written by Antoine Lavoisier published in 1789 and translated into English by Robert Kerr in 1790 under the title ''Elements of Chemistry in a New Systemati ...

(Elementary Treatise of Chemistry) -

Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

Law of conservation of mass In physics and chemistry, the law of conservation of mass or principle of mass conservation states that for any system closed to all transfers of matter and energy, the mass of the system must remain constant over time, as the system's mass can ...

, define a chemical element, and contain a list of known elements.

''Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique''

* Guyton de Morveau, L. B.; Lavoisier, A. L.; Berthollet, C. L.; de Fourcroy, A. F. * ''Méthode de Nomenclature Chimique'', Paris, 1787, available in English as ''Chymical Nomenclature''. * Some details and a picture available at IUPAC nomenclature#History Description: This publication laid out a logical system for naming

chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

s (mainly

chemical element A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei, including the pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements canno ...

s and

inorganic compound In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemis ...

s). Importance: Prior to this publication, a multitude of names were often used for the same substance. This publication led to an international consensus on how to name chemical substances.

''A New System of Chemical Philosophy''

* ''A New System of Chemical Philosophy'' -

John Dalton John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into Color blindness, colour blindness, which ...

, 1808–1827 Description: This book explained Dalton's theory of atoms and its applications to chemistry. Importance: Topic Creator, Breakthrough, Influence. The book was one of the first to describe a modern atomic theory, a theory that lies at the basis of modern chemistry. It is the first to introduce a table of atomic and molecular weights. Surprisingly, given the period in which the book was written, of the five properties of atoms that Dalton listed, only two have been shown to be incorrect.

''The Dependence Between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements''

* ''The Dependence Between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements'' -

Dmitri Mendeleev Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...

* Zeitschrift für Chemie 12, 405–406 (1869)
Online version
Description and Importance: In this paper the

periodic table The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...

was introduced. Notice that the table in the above link is the original one. Since then the table structure was slightly changed and new elements were added to it.

Organic chemistry

''Science of Synthesis: Houben-Weyl Methods of Molecular Transformations''

* Volume titles are her

* Thieme: Stuttgart, 48 volumes, 2000 – 2009 (print and electronic version available) Description: Contains synthetic models selected by world-renowned experts, with full experimental procedures and background information. Considers methods from journals, books, and patent literature from the early 19th century up to the present day and presents important synthetic methods for all classes of compounds. Critically evaluates the preparative applicability and significance of the synthetic methods. Importance: A reference publication.

''March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure''

* Michael Smith (chemist), Michael B. Smith,

Jerry March Jerry March, Ph.D. (August 1, 1929 – December 25, 1997) was an American organic chemist and a professor of chemistry at Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhat ...

* Wiley-Interscience, 5th edition, 2001, * Wiley-Interscience, 6th edition, 2007, Description: A comprehensive reference for organic chemistry with over 25,000 references. Importance: A reference publication.

''The Logic of Chemical Synthesis''

* Elias James Corey, Xue-Min Cheng *Wiley-Interscience, 1995, Description: Describes the logic underlying the rational design of complex

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...

. Importance: Breakthrough, Influence

Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis

Theodora Greene Theodora Whatmough Greene (19 November 1931 – 14 July 2005) was a chemist, most well known for authoring the book ''Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis'', which summarises the use of protecting groups in organic synthesis. Early life and edu ...

, Peter G. M. Wuts *Wiley-Interscience, 1st edition, 1981 *Wiley-Interscience, 2nd edition, 1991 *Wiley-Interscience, 3rd edition, 1999, *Wiley-Interscience, 4th edition, 2007, *Wiley-Interscience, 5th edition, 2014, Description: A comprehensive reference for the usage of

protecting group A protecting group or protective group is introduced into a molecule by chemical modification of a functional group to obtain chemoselectivity in a subsequent chemical reaction. It plays an important role in multistep organic synthesis. In man ...

s in

. Importance: A reference publication.

Comprehensive Organic Transformations

* Richard C. Larock *Wiley-VCH *1st edition: *2nd edition: 1999, Description: A standard reference for the practicing organic chemist. These books are just enormous lists of key references indexed by

functional group In organic chemistry, a functional group is a substituent or moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions regardless of the r ...

transformations. Importance: A reference publication.

Stereochemistry of Carbon Compounds

Ernest L. Eliel Ernest Ludwig Eliel (December 28, 1921 – September 18, 2008) was an organic chemist born in Cologne, Germany. Among his awards were the Priestley Medal in 1996

*1st edition: 1962 *Current edition: renamed Stereochemistry of Organic Compounds, 1994 (by Eliel and Samuel H. Wilen) Description: systematic and complete exposition of all aspects of organic stereochemistry Importance: standard advanced text for organic stereochemistry.

The Conservation of Orbital Symmetry

Robert Burns Woodward Robert Burns Woodward (April 10, 1917 – July 8, 1979) was an American organic chemist. He is considered by many to be the most preeminent synthetic organic chemist of the twentieth century, having made many key contributions to the subject, e ...

and

Roald Hoffmann Roald Hoffmann (born Roald Safran; July 18, 1937) is a Polish-American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He has also published plays and poetry. He is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, Emeritus, at ...

*Verlag Chemie Academic Press *1st edition: 1970 Description: This book summarizes a series of publications (the first in 1965) by the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winning authors where they describe the mechanism of a series of

pericyclic reaction In organic chemistry, a pericyclic reaction is the type of organic reaction wherein the transition state of the molecule has a cyclic geometry, the reaction progresses in a concerted fashion, and the bond orbitals involved in the reaction over ...

s based upon the conservation of orbital symmetry leading to what are now called the

Woodward–Hoffmann rules The Woodward–Hoffmann rules (or the pericyclic selection rules), devised by Robert Burns Woodward and Roald Hoffmann, are a set of rules used to rationalize or predict certain aspects of the stereochemistry and activation energy of pericyclic rea ...

. Importance: the concepts outlined in this text changed the field of organic chemistry and ushered in the

frontier molecular orbital theory In chemistry, frontier molecular orbital theory is an application of MO theory describing HOMO/LUMO interactions. History In 1952, Kenichi Fukui published a paper in the ''Journal of Chemical Physics'' titled "A molecular theory of reactivity i ...

approach toward understanding reactions.

Classics in Total Synthesis

* K.C. Nicolaou and E.J. Sorensen *Current edition: 1996 Description. The synthesis of famous molecules done by the masters of organic chemistry Importance. A standard postgraduate text book for the study of total synthesis and a valuable reference work for experts. "..destined to become a classic itself".

Inorganic chemistry

''Chemical Applications of Group Theory''

* F. Albert Cotton * Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, 1st Ed. 1963, 3rd Ed. 1990. Description: Explains the use of

symmetry group In group theory, the symmetry group of a geometric object is the group of all transformations under which the object is invariant, endowed with the group operation of composition. Such a transformation is an invertible mapping of the amb ...

s in describing

molecular symmetry Molecular symmetry in chemistry describes the symmetry present in molecules and the classification of these molecules according to their symmetry. Molecular symmetry is a fundamental concept in chemistry, as it can be used to predict or explain m ...

and its role in determining molecular properties. Importance: Significant influence by introducing group theory to a much wider group of chemists.

''Advanced Inorganic Chemistry''

* F. Albert Cotton and

Geoffrey Wilkinson Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS (14 July 1921 – 26 September 1996) was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis. Education and early life Wilkinson was born at Springside, Todm ...

*Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, 1st Ed. 1962, 6th Ed. 1999 Description: A classic general textbook for an undergraduate course in inorganic chemistry Importance: This book is not only a good introduction to the subject, it was very different from earlier texts and "led to a fundamental shift in the way in which inorganic chemistry was studied". It seemed to be symbolic of the renaissance in inorganic chemistry starting in the 1950s. Every new text in inorganic chemistry since this text has had to respond to it.

Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry

* F. Sherwood Taylor and H. M. N. H. Irving *Heinemann, 1st Ed 1931, 10th Ed. 1960 Description: Unique very advanced and comprehensive coverage of every element known at the time by chapter describing all known compounds yet discovered or synthesised. Approaches chemistry as the study of elements and compounds without the later emphasis on bond theory and analysis. Importance: Inspired and instructed generations of English speaking scientists and students.

Chemistry of the Elements

*N. N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw *Heinemann (later Elsevier), 1st Ed 1984, 2nd Ed 1997 Description: Unique comprehensive descriptive coverage of all the elements and their compounds, with a strong focus on 'real life' and industrial applications. Importance: The most comprehensive one-volume text on inorganic chemistry available; a worthy successor to Taylor and Irving (see above).

Physical chemistry

''Physical Chemistry'' (Atkins and de Paula)

* P. W. Atkins * Oxford University Press, 1st Ed. 1978, 10th Ed. 2014 (with Julio de Paula from 7th Ed. 2002) Description: A classic general textbook for an undergraduate course in physical chemistry Importance: This book is not only a good introduction to the subject, it was very different from earlier texts and altered the way physical chemistry was taught. The first edition was very widely used where English is the language of instruction. Other texts had to respond to the lead from Atkins. The current edition is the 10th edition.

''Physical Chemistry'' (Berry, Rice and Ross)

* R. Stephen Berry,

Stuart A. Rice Stuart Alan Rice (born January 6, 1932) is an American theoretical chemist and physical chemist.John Ross * Oxford University Press, 1st Ed. 1980, 2nd Ed. 2000 Description: An encyclopedic text and reference suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate study. Importance: This massive text by outstanding research workers begins with simple systems and proceeds logically to the more complex phenomena of physical chemistry. The original literature is cited extensively, making the work useful as a reference as well as a textbook. Many topics of current research are treated. Its advanced and exhaustive coverage of the field, together with extensive coverage of modern topics, eclipses the former champion, the text by E. A. Moelwyn-Hughes.

''Methods in Physical Chemistry'' (Schäfer, Schmidt)

* Rolf Schäfer, Peter C. Schmidt * Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2012 Description: A broad overview of commonly used methods in physical chemistry and their practical aspects. Importance: This book is designed for students, supporting them in the master and doctoral thesises.

Biochemistry

''A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid''

* James D. Watson and

Francis Crick Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the helical stru ...

* Nature 171, 737–738 (1953) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Downloadable PDF
Description: In this paper the structure of DNA was proposed. It consisted of a double helix with a phosphate backbone, unlike

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topi ...

and R.B. Corey's double helix where the backbone consisted of the bases. They conclude with the sly remark: "It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence

''The Structure of the Potassium Channel: Molecular Basis of K+ Conduction and Selectivity''

* Declan A. Doyle, João Morais Cabral, Richard A. Pfuetzner, Anling Kuo, Jacqueline M. Gulbis, Steven L. Cohen, Brian T. Chait and

Roderick MacKinnon Roderick MacKinnon (born February 19, 1956) is an American biophysicist, neuroscientist, and businessman. He is a professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at Rockefeller University who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Peter ...

* Science 280(5360), 69-77 (1998) © American Association for the Advancement of Science
Online version
Description: The structure of the potassium channel is determined by X-ray crystallography. Access to the structure provided answers to central questions in biology, regarding the movement of ions across the cell membrane. In particular, the structure revealed the mechanism with by which these channels move potassium ions both quickly and selectively, reliably preventing similarly sized sodium ions from passing through. Importance Breakthrough, Influence

Analytical chemistry

Statistics for Experimenters: An Introduction to Design, Data Analysis, and Model Building

* George E.P. Box, J. Stuart Hunter & William G. Hunter * John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1st Edition 1978, 2nd Edition 2005 () Importance: Although almost devoid of classical chemistry, this is the definitive text for any experimentalist. This is particularly true for any chemist measuring or studying the properties or effects of chemical compounds, mixtures or other substances. Description: Starting with examples comparing two sets of experimental data, this text explains variance and the calculation of standard deviations, degrees of freedom, the null hypothesis and the "Student's"

t-Test A ''t''-test is any statistical hypothesis test in which the test statistic follows a Student's ''t''-distribution under the null hypothesis. It is most commonly applied when the test statistic would follow a normal distribution if the value of ...

by William J. Gosset. Further chapters discuss the importance of randomization and the analysis of variance (

ANOVA Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a collection of statistical models and their associated estimation procedures (such as the "variation" among and between groups) used to analyze the differences among means. ANOVA was developed by the statistician ...

) using F distributions before delving into the use of statistically designed experiments including block and factorial designs. The book finishes with least squares regression analysis along with response surface and mechanistic modeling. Though chemical examples were few, it should be mentioned that co-author William G. Hunter, George Box's protege, had a Bachelor's and a master's degree in Chemical Engineering with the book written in such a manner that its concepts would easily apply to chemical investigations.

Polymer chemistry

Principles of Polymer Chemistry

* Flory, Paul J.(1953) * Cornell University Press. 1953, . Importance: First major text on polymer chemistry; presents both organic and physical chemistry aspects. Written by a chemist who made major contributions to the physical chemistry of polymers, for which he won the Nobel prize in 1974. Description: Discusses structure and stereochemistry of synthetic polymers, polymerization kinetics, behaviour of polymers in solution, chain dimensions.

Environmental chemistry

Aquatic Chemistry, Chemical Equilibria and Rates in Natural Waters

* Stumm, Werner and James J. Morgan. * John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1st Edition 1970, 3rd Edition 1996, . Description. This book covers the full spectrum of the discipline including acid/base equilibria, carbonate chemistry, mass transfer, complexation, sorption phenomenon, oxidation/reduction, colloid chemistry, and flocculation/coagulation. The authors generally present the material using a ground up approach that emphasizes fundamental principles of thermodynamics and kinetics. Importance. The publication is one of the most widely cited texts in environmental chemistry. In 1999, Stumm and Morgan received the Stockholm Water Prize for their contributions in the field. The citation specifically mentioned Aquatic Chemistry where it was described as a "seminal book" which is "used in education all over the world".

Stratospheric sink for chlorofluoromethanes: chlorine atom-catalysed destruction of ozone

Mario J. Molina Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez (19 March 19437 October 2020), known as Mario Molina, was a Mexican chemist. He played a pivotal role in the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, and was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemis ...

and F. S. Rowland,

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

249, 810–812 (1974) Description: This paper warned of the danger of

ozone depletion Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone lay ...

due to man-made

chlorofluorocarbons Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and propa ...

. The main atmospheric sink for these compounds was identified as ultraviolet

photolysis Photodissociation, photolysis, photodecomposition, or photofragmentation is a chemical reaction in which molecules of a chemical compound are broken down by photons. It is defined as the interaction of one or more photons with one target molecule. ...

, liberating chlorine atoms which catalyze the destruction of

stratospheric The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air h ...

ozone and have the potential to significantly deplete the ozone layer. Importance: Influence, as described in the presentation speech for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995: “The findings presented by this year's laureates in chemistry have had an enormous political and industrial impact. This was because they clearly identified unacceptable environmental hazards in a large, economically important sector.�

Chemical thermodynamics

On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances In the history of thermodynamics, ''On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances'' is a 300-page paper written by American chemical physicist Willard Gibbs. It is one of the founding papers in thermodynamics, along with German physicist Hermann ...

* Gibbs, Willard *Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. III, pp. 108–248, 1876; pp. 343–524, 1878. Description: paper applied the thermodynamic theory of steam engines to atomic level chemical reactions; i.e., it established equilibrium criteria necessary to predict the thermodynamic tendency of chemical reactions at constant temperature and pressure. Importance: topic creator; historian Bill Bryson states, in his '' A Short History of Nearly Everything'', that Gibbs’ ''Equilibrium'' paper is "the ''Principia'' of

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws ...

". In addition, this paper, in many ways, functions as the mathematical foundation of

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

Electrochemistry

''Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications''

Allen J. Bard Allen Joseph Bard (born December 18, 1933) is an American chemist. He is the Hackerman-Welch Regents Chair Professor and director of the Center for Electrochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. Bard is considered a "father of modern el ...

, Larry R. Faulkner * John Wiley and Sons, 2nd edition, 2000, Description: The defining reference for electrochemistry, coupling thousands of electroanalytical methods with the theory behind them. Importance: A reference publication.

Theoretical chemistry, quantum chemistry and computational chemistry

''Valence and the structure of atoms and molecules''

Gilbert N. Lewis Gilbert Newton Lewis (October 23 or October 25, 1875 – March 23, 1946) was an American physical chemist and a Dean of the College of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. Lewis was best known for his discovery of the covalent bond a ...

* New York, The Chemical Catalog Company, Inc., 1923. Description: Discusses ionic and covalent bonding (polar and non-polar). Importance: The book that introduced the modern concept of the covalent bond as the sharing of electron pairs, and tried to reconcile the chemist's empirical view of the atom with the physicist's and spectroscopist's quantum mechanical view. It could be considered a precursor to Pauling's books.

''Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry''

, E. Bright Wilson * New York, London, McGraw-Hill book company, 1935. Description: A classic and excellent introduction to quantum mechanics. Importance: One of the earliest books that introduced quantum mechanics to chemists. It remains well loved by many to this day.

Valence

* C. A Coulson *Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1952. *The latest edition is called ''Coulson's Valence'', 3rd Edition, Roy McWeeny, Oxford University Press, 1980 Description: A classic introduction to valence and the theory of chemical binding. Importance: This book is credited with causing the expansion of interest in molecular orbital theory from the 1950s.''Textbooks as Manifestos: C. A. Coulson after Linus Pauling and R. S. Mulliken'', Ana Simões
A lecture by video and transcript by a historian of science that clearly and in detail discusses the importance of Coulson's book in relation to the earlier work of Pauling and Mulliken.

''The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals; An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry''

* Ithaca, N.Y., London, Cornell University Press; H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1940. Description: A classic that was the first general book to introduce quantum mechanics to chemists. Importance: Probably more than any other book, introduced quantum mechanics and, in particular,

valence bond theory In chemistry, valence bond (VB) theory is one of the two basic theories, along with molecular orbital (MO) theory, that were developed to use the methods of quantum mechanics to explain chemical bonding. It focuses on how the atomic orbitals of ...

to experimental chemists.

''Density-Functional Theory of Atoms and Molecules''

* R. G. Parr and W. Yang, *Oxford University Press, New York, 1989. Description: A very thorough and scholarly account of

density functional theory Density-functional theory (DFT) is a computational quantum mechanical modelling method used in physics, chemistry and materials science to investigate the electronic structure (or nuclear structure) (principally the ground state) of many-body ...

. Importance: This is a good introduction to the subject, but has particular significance in the way it describes how the theory throws new light on old chemical concepts such as

electronegativity Electronegativity, symbolized as , is the tendency for an atom of a given chemical element to attract shared electrons (or electron density) when forming a chemical bond. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the ...

'' Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics''

Roberto Car Roberto Car (born 3 January 1947 in Trieste) is an Italian physicist and the Ralph W. Dornte *31 Professor in Chemistry at Princeton University, where he is also a faculty member in the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Mater ...

and

Michele Parrinello Michele Parrinello (born 7 September 1945, Messina) is an Italian physicist particularly known for his work in molecular dynamics (the computer simulation of physical movements of atoms and molecules). Parrinello and Roberto Car were awarded the ...

, *Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2471 (1985) Description: Unified Approach for

Molecular Dynamics Molecular dynamics (MD) is a computer simulation method for analyzing the physical movements of atoms and molecules. The atoms and molecules are allowed to interact for a fixed period of time, giving a view of the dynamic "evolution" of th ...

and

Density Functional Theory Density-functional theory (DFT) is a computational quantum mechanical modelling method used in physics, chemistry and materials science to investigate the electronic structure (or nuclear structure) (principally the ground state) of many-body ...

. Importance: First demonstration of ab-initio molecular dynamics, where the forces are computed on-the-fly by means of quantum mechanical electronic structure calculations.

Supramolecular chemistry

''Supramolecular Chemistry – Concepts and Perspectives''

* Jean-Marie Lehn * , VCH, Description: Comprehensive textbook written by topic creator. Importance: Most-popular textbook on subject (according to Amazon.com). Lehn coined the term "supermolecule" in '73, developed the concept of supramolecular chemistry in '78, and won the Nobel Prize for his supramolecular chemistry work in ’87.

''Supramolecular Medicinal Chemistry ''

* Michael J. Zaworotko * Brian D. Moulton Description: Selected articles: "Supramolecular Medicinal Chemistry: Mixed-Ligand Coordination Complexes".Mol. Pharmaceutics, 2007, 4 (3), pp 373–385;"Pharmaceutical co-crystals".Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2006, 95 (3), pp 499–516;"Crystal engineering of pharmaceutical co-crystals from polymorphic active pharmaceutical ingredients". Chem. Commun., 2005, pp 4601 – 4603; "Recent advances of discrete coordination complexes and coordination polymers in drug delivery". Coord. Chem. Rev., 2011, 255, pp 1623–1641. Importance: Breakthrough, Influence

Medicinal chemistry

''The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry''

Camille Georges Wermuth Camille Georges Wermuth (died September 2015) was a chemist in the Laboratoire de Pharmacochimie Moleculaire at the Universite Louis Pasteur in Illkirch, France. He is particularly known for his editing of ''The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry'' ...

editor * Academic Press, 1996, * 2nd edition, Academic Press, 2003, Description: A great overview of the theory, methodology, and techniques of drug design. Importance: Introduction, Influence