Chapter 6 — Further Reading

Textbook treatments

• Silverstein, R. M., Webster, F. X., Kiemle, D. J., and Bryce, D. L. (2014). Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds, 8th edition. Wiley. The standard comprehensive reference; IR, MS, NMR in one volume.
• Pavia, D. L., Lampman, G. M., Kriz, G. S., and Vyvyan, J. R. (2014). Introduction to Spectroscopy, 5th edition. Cengage. Accessible undergraduate-level text.
• Williams, D. H., and Fleming, I. (2007). Spectroscopic Methods in Organic Chemistry, 6th edition. McGraw-Hill. Classic concise text.

On IR specifically

• Smith, B. (2018). Infrared Spectral Interpretation: A Systematic Approach, 2nd edition. CRC Press.
• Coates, J. (2006). Interpretation of infrared spectra: a practical approach. In Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry, Wiley. A standard reference chapter, widely available.

On mass spectrometry

• Watson, J. T., and Sparkman, O. D. (2007). Introduction to Mass Spectrometry, 4th edition. Wiley.
• McLafferty, F. W., and Tureček, F. (1993). Interpretation of Mass Spectra, 4th edition. University Science Books. Contains the classic fragmentation rules.
• Gross, J. H. (2017). Mass Spectrometry: A Textbook, 3rd edition. Springer.

Online databases

• SDBS (Spectral Database for Organic Compounds) — sdbs.db.aist.go.jp: comprehensive free database of IR, NMR, Raman, and MS spectra for hundreds of thousands of compounds. Indispensable for teaching and problem-solving.
• PubChem — pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: includes spectra for many compounds.
• NIST Chemistry WebBook — webbook.nist.gov: authoritative source for IR, MS, and thermochemistry data.

Application-side reading

• Solomon, S. (1999). Stratospheric ozone depletion: A review. Reviews of Geophysics, 37, 275–316. For the atmospheric chemistry case study.
• UNODC Laboratory and Scientific Section (continuously updated). Manual for the identification of controlled substances. Free publications on forensic drug analysis.

Practice

The single best way to develop IR/MS intuition is to solve unknowns. SDBS has thousands of spectra; pick a compound you know (e.g., from your medicine cabinet or household), find its spectra, and annotate every peak. Do ten in a sitting. Come back the next day and do ten more. By the end of two weeks, you will read spectra fluently.