Resources for learning Chemistry
#Books about Inorganic Chemistry

General texts

Housecroft, C. E.; Sharpe, A. G. Inorganic Chemistry, 4th ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2012.

Weller, M.; Overton, T.; Rourke, J.; Armstrong, F. Inorganic Chemistry, 6th ed; Oxford UP: Oxford, U.K., 2014.
This is the latest version of the textbook commonly known as Shriver &amp; Atkins.

Miessler, G. L.; Fischer, P. J.; Tarr, D. A. Inorganic Chemistry, 5th ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2014.
A relatively shorter text, but explains chemical bonding extremely well.

Ghosh, A.; Berg, S. Arrow Pushing in Inorganic Chemistry: A Logical Approach to the Chemistry
of the Main-Group Elements, 1st ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2014.
A mechanistic approach to reactions in inorganic chemistry with emphasis on the mechanisms.

Lee, J. D. Concise Inorganic Chemistry, 5th ed; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 1999.
A classic introductory inorganic chemistry textbook.

Bauer, G Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry, 2nd ed; Academic Press: New York, 1963
A two volume compendium about small-scale syntheses of elements, maingroup and transition element inorganic compounds.


#Books about Organic Chemistry

General texts

Carey, F. A.; Sundberg, R. J. Advanced Organic Chemistry, Part A: Structure and Mechanisms, 5th ed.; Springer: New York, 2007.
Carey, F. A.; Sundberg, R. J. Advanced Organic Chemistry, Part B: Reactions and Synthesis, 5th ed.; Springer: New York, 2007.
Carey &amp; Sundberg is a classic two-volume text with an extremely in-depth discussion. Mechanisms are elucidated in great detail (primarily via MO theory, with results from both ab initio and semi-empirical methods), and the exposition of pericyclic reactions is notably excellent. It also contains a great deal of illuminating content on conformational analysis. Definitely not appropriate for a first textbook, but essential reading for advanced undergraduates and above.

Carey, F. A.; Giuliano, R. M. Organic Chemistry, 9th ed.; McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, 2014.

Clayden, J.; Greeves, N.; Warren, S. Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Oxford UP: Oxford, U.K., 2012.
Excellent first textbook for organic with lucid explanations. It's worth noting that the first edition, while slightly more verbose, contains more information than the second, where some chapters and sections were cut.

Smith, M. B. March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure, 7th ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2013.
A comprehensive book that covers nearly every reaction under the sun, with appropriate references to primary literature. Arguably best used as a reference and not as study material, but it is also surprisingly readable.

Solomons, T. W. Graham; Fryhle, C. B.; Organic Chemistry, 10th ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2011.
Introductory textbook for organic chemistry.

Wade, L. G. Organic Chemistry, 8th ed.; Pearson Education: Glenview, IL, 2013.
A systematic introductory textbook for organic chemistry. Follows the traditional functional group approach.

Organic synthesis

Warren, S.; Wyatt, P. Organic Synthesis: The Disconnection Approach, 2nd ed.; Wiley: Chichester, U.K., 2008.
A step-by-step introduction to organic retrosynthetic analysis and the construction of different relations between functional groups. Do also get the accompanying workbook (the solutions are discussed immediately after problems).

Kürti, L.; Czakó, B. Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis; Elsevier: Amsterdam, 2005.
An incredible compilation of 250 named reactions, with discussion of mechanisms and examples of application to total synthesis. Nearly 10,000 references to primary literature.

Mundy, B. P.; Ellerd, M. G.; Favaloro, F. G., Jr. Name Reactions and Reagents in Organic Synthesis, 2nd ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2005.
A reference book for numerous reaction mechanisms and common reagents.

Nicolaou, K. C.; Sorensen, E. J. Classics in Total Synthesis; Wiley: Weinheim, Germany, 1996.
Thorough discussion of the retrosynthesis and forward synthesis of 36 molecules, by one of the most well-known synthetic chemists of recent years and (at the time) his Ph.D. student. Examples are taken from almost the entire history of organic synthesis: from Woodward's 1954 synthesis of strychnine to the author's own 1995 synthesis of brevetoxin B. Also check out the sequels, Classics in Total Synthesis II and Classics in Total Synthesis III.

Wuts, P. G. M. Greene's Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, 5th ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2014.
Comprehensive listing of protecting groups, protection and deprotection conditions with references to primary literature, and handy reactivity charts which assess the stability of protecting groups towards various reagents and conditions.

Spectroscopy

Pavia, D. L.; Lampman, G. M.; Kriz, G. S.; Vyvyan, J. A. Introduction to Spectroscopy, 5th ed.; Cengage Learning: Stamford, CT, 2015.
Excellent introductory text with good coverage of all the typical structure determination techniques: elemental analysis, NMR, IR, MS, and UV-Vis.

Silverstein, R. M.; Webster, F. X.; Kiemle, D. J.; Bryce, D.L. Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds, 8th ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2014.
Perhaps a slightly more in-depth discussion than Pavia, but without sacrificing any clarity. Includes a large number of tables and charts of spectroscopic data, making it also very valuable as a reference.

Claridge, T. D. W. High-Resolution NMR Techniques in Organic Chemistry, 3rd ed.; Elsevier: Amsterdam, 2016.
A much more involved (graduate level) discussion of how NMR experiments are designed and how we extract information from them. Along with the more physchem-oriented NMR books, this is recommended for those who want to know what is actually going on in their NMR machine.


#Books about Physical Chemistry

General texts

Atkins, P.; de Paula, J. Physical Chemistry, 10th ed; Oxford UP: Oxford, U.K., 2014.
Classic physical chemistry textbook, but can sometimes be difficult to follow, especially for first-time students.

Atkins, P.; de Paula, J. Elements of Physical Chemistry, 7th ed.; Oxford UP: Oxford, U.K., 2016.
A less detailed book than Physical Chemistry. Can be used for introductory physical chemistry courses.

Engel, T.; Reid, P. Physical Chemistry, 3rd ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2012.

Levine, I. N. Physical Chemistry, 6th ed.; McGraw-Hill: New York, 2009.

Statistical mechanics

Chandler, D. Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics; Oxford UP:Oxford, U.K., 1987
Useful for undergraduate and early graduate study of both classical and quantum statistical mechanics, as well as for reference.

McQuarrie, D. A. Statistical Mechanics; University Science Books: Mill Valley, CA, 2000.

Nuclear magnetic resonance

Keeler, J. Understanding NMR Spectroscopy, 2nd ed.; Wiley: Chichester, U.K., 2010.
An extremely accessible and readable introduction to the theory behind NMR experiments. Describes nearly every important aspect of NMR, from basic quantum mechanics to the vector model, product operators, and a range of NMR experiments. It seems to be a conscious choice on the part of the author to not delve too deep into the quantum mechanics, in the interests of clarity and understanding.

Levitt, M.H. Spin Dynamics, 2nd ed.; Wiley: Chichester, U.K., 2008.
An extremely in-depth treatment of the quantum mechanics of NMR, which goes well beyond the level of Keeler's book.

Gunther, H. NMR Spectroscopy, 3rd ed.; Wiley: Weinheim, Germany, 2013.

Computational and Quantum Chemistry

Levine, I. N. Quantum Chemistry, 7th ed.; Pearson: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2012.
This book acts as a first introduction to quantum chemistry and computational methods for students who do not have prior experience with the field.

Atkins, P. W.; Friedman, R. S. Molecular Quantum Mechanics, 5th ed.; Oxford UP: Oxford, U.K., 2010.
Realizes a more extensive coverage than Levine.

Cohen-Tannoudji, C.; Diu, B.; Laloe, F. Quantum Mechanics; Wiley: New York, 1977.
This book is a very good book on quantum mechanics that is often used by physics majors to learn the subject. Reading it is necessary if a better understanding than that provided by previous books is desired.

McWeeny, R. Symmetry; Dover, 2002.

Parr, R. G.; Yang, W. Density-Functional Theory of Atoms and Molecules; Oxford UP: Oxford, U.K., 1996.
The first book on DFT and by leaders in the field, still unbeatable.

Jensen, F. Introduction to Computational Chemistry; Wiley, 2007
This books treats the computational methods at a beginner level.

Szabo, A.; Ostlund, N. S. Modern Quantum Chemistry: Introduction to Advanced Electronic Structure Theory; Dover, 1996

Helgaker, T.; Jorgensen, P; Olsen, J. Molecular Electronic-Structure Theory.
This is the reference book on wavefunction methods.

Cancès, E; Defranceschi, M; Kutzelnigg, W.; Le Bris, C.; Maday, Y. Computational Quantum Chemistry: A primer.
A sophisticated mathematical analysis of wavefunction methods and density functional theory.

Solid State Chemistry and Crystallography

West, A. R. Solid State Chemistry and Its Applications, 2nd ed.; John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc: Chichester, West Sussex, 2014.
Simon, S. H. The Oxford Solid State Basics, 1st ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2013.
Smart, L.; Moore, E. Solid State Chemistry: An Introduction, 4th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2012.
Tilley, R. J. D. Understanding Solids: The Science of Materials; J. Wiley: Chichester, West Sussex, England; Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2004.


Hoffmann, R. How Chemistry and Physics Meet in the Solid State; DOI: 10.1002/anie.198708461.
Learning solid state theory is difficult for a chemist in part because it is primarily ridden by a different community (physicists) that have a different language and way to understand bonding. This review helps in bridging the gap.

Ashcroft, N. S.; Mermin, N. Solid State Physics; Cengage Learning, 1976.
This textbook is primary reference to learn solid state physics.

Evarestov, R. A. Quantum Chemistry of Solids: LCAO Treatment of Crystals and Nanostructures, Springer, 2012.

Fundamentals of Crystallography, 3th ed., Oxford University Press, 2011

Müller, Ulrich Symmetry Relationships between Crystal Structures.
Applications of Crystallographic Group Theory in Crystal Chemistry, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2017
A rigorous yet accessible explanation of the foundations of crystallography and symmetry relationships with a large collection of exercises to practice. Good for self-study.

Müller, U. Anorganische Strukturchemie, 6., aktualisierte Aufl., unveränd. Nachdr.; Studium; Vieweg + Teubner: Wiesbaden, 2009. (in German)

Dronskowski, R. Computational Chemistry of Solid State Materials: A Guide for Materials Scientists, Chemists, Physicists and Others; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 2005.

Molecular Orbital Theory

Fleming, I. Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions: Student Edition; Wiley: Chichester, 2009.
A readable introduction to molecular orbital theory with an emphasis on its application to simple organic chemical reactions (SN1/SN2 etc). Suitable for undergraduates wanting a more detailed understanding of organic reactivity. Also widely considered to be the book for the molecular orbital treatment of pericyclic reactions.

Fleming, I. Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions: Reference edition; Wiley: Chichester, 2009.
An expanded version of Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions: Student Edition with a full list of references and additional coverage of some material. More suited to graduate students / instructors who might want to read deeper into a topic.

Albright, T. A.; Burdett, J. K.; Whangbo, M-H. Orbital Interactions in Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2013.
Arguably the best book on the subject, both in terms of depth (some mathematical treatment of the topics) and coverage (organic and inorganic molecules are discussed). Given the size (over 800 pages), Albright is more of a reference text than Fleming which can easily be read cover-to-cover, and the level of discussion is more geared towards graduate students / undergraduates in later years who already have some understanding of molecular orbitals.

Jean, Y. Molecular Orbitals of Transition Metal Complexes; Oxford, 2005.
An undergraduate level textbook covering the fundamentals of molecular orbital theory applied to transition metal complexes. The derivations of the MO diagrams for various coordination geometries is provided along with a chapter on 'applications' of MO theory such as how complexes react.

Electrochemistry

Elgrishi, N. et al. A Practical Beginner’s Guide to Cyclic Voltammetry; J. Chem. Educ. 2018, 95, 197–206. (open access)
A short introduction teaching the very basics about CV's theory, supplemented with tips and warnings for pitfalls recording and interpreting the experimental data.  The supplementary information contains five training modules to walk through the more typical minutiae one encounters.