While modem techniques of nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry changed the ways of data acquisition and greatly extended the capabilities of these methods, the basic parameters, such as chemical shifts, coupling constants, and fragmentation pathways remain the same. This explains the ongoing success of the earlier editions of this book. However, since the amount of available data has considerably increased over the years, we decided to prepare an entirely new manuscript. It follows the same basic concepts, i. e. , it provides a representative, albeit limited set of reference data for the interpretation of 13C NMR, 1 H NMR, IR, mass, and UV Nis spectra. On the other hand, the book has undergone a number of changes. The amount of reference data has been doubled at least (especially for MS and IR) and the order and selection of data for the various spectroscopic methods is now arranged strictly in the same way. In addition, the the enclosed compact disc contains programs for estimating NMR chemical shifts and generating isomers based on structural information. Unfortunately, our teachers and colleagues, Prof. Wilhelm Simon and Prof. Thomas Clerc are no longer among us, and Prof. Joseph Seibl has retired years ago. Their contributions to developing the concept and the earlier editions of this work cannot be overemphasized. We also thank numerous colleagues who helped us in many different ways to complete the manuscript. Weare particularly indebted to Dr.
