For over 60 years, William Theilheimer's [1] 'yearbook' has provided organic chemists with an invaluable review of new synthetic methods, along with significant improvements for known procedures. Now published twice a year, this renowned publication continues as an indispensable aid to organic chemists, both for casual browsing and as a fully cross-referenced research tool.

In late 2007, Digital Chemistry, with the dedication and commitment of expert abstractors and long-term contributors, Gill Tozer-Hotchkiss [2], Alan Finch [3], Jill Entwistle and Chris Hardy, took on the continuing responsibility for preparing this work, commencing with vol. 72, which was published by S. Karger AG in June 2008.

A typical page from vol. 72 is reproduced below, illustrating the presentation of the abstracts, the way in which the sections are organised in order to bring together similar transformations and the extensive indexing and cross-referencing, which makes it such a fundamentally useful resource.

• Systematic survey of the mainstream organic chemistry literature;
• Examples abstracted to illustrate important new, generally applicable, synthetic methods;
• Abstracts provide a summary of the experimental procedure as well as highlighting the scope and limitations of the method and important mechanistic features;
• Abstracts collated and organised into logical sections, affording a useful browsing tool;
• Comprehensive indexing and cross-referencing provide an invaluable research tool;
• Approximately 1100 graphical abstracts per year are complemented by around 2500 supplementary references, a review of reviews and informed commentary on latest trends;
• Volume 72 onwards available as 'ActiveBooks' - fully text-searchable, on-line versions;
• A literature review (Org. Process Res. Dev., 2008, 12 (6), p. 1314) describes volume 72 of Theilheimer's Synthetic Methods (the first volume produced by Digital Chemistry) as "Outstanding!"; a more recent review (Org. Process Res. Dev., 2009, 13 (5), p. 1035) of volume 74 emphasises the value of the 'recent trends' section and comments on the usefulness of the comprehensive index and listing of review articles, adding "a commendable achievement to be so up-to-date" and concluding with "good value" and "highly recommended to synthetic chemists in industry and academia".

If you have any comments or queries concerning the content of the publication, we would be pleased to hear from you. Alternatively, volume 72 onwards (along with many of the previous volumes) can be purchased directly from the publisher - click here for further details.

1. William Theilheimer (1914-2005) (ACS Obituary; Wikipedia entry)
2. Gill Tozer-Hotchkiss - Editor, Volume 71 onwards
3. Alan F. Finch - Editor, Volumes 36-70