Continuing the tradition of providing significant and interesting procedures, Organic Syntheses, Collective Volume XII is a compilation of revised editions of Annual Volumes 85 through 89. The contents of this volume are organized by primarily by reaction type, with the precise classification made according to the bias of the editor, who attempted to ascertain the primary purpose or utility of the procedure.

Charles Zercher earned a BA in Chemistry at Messiah College in Grantham, PA. His graduate education initiated with studies in Medicinal Chemistry at the State University of New York at Buffalo leading to an MS degree in 1985. He received a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame 1989 where he studied under the direction of Marvin Miller. Following post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Paul Wender at Stanford University, Chuck joined the faculty at the University of New Hampshire. He was awarded the University of New Hampshire's Outstanding Assistant Professor Award in 1996 and was promoted to Professor in 2003. His teaching interests include synthetic methods and strategies, organic spectroscopy, and introductory organic chemistry.