The only way of mastering any topic in Organic Chemistry is doing lots of practice problems. And I know, seeing my students, that starting to work on a practice problem may be the hardest part as you don’t know where to start. It is difficult to visualize what where the double bond would be moved if you follow the five curved arrows crammed in one step. Here is the trick:
We are always told to think before doing something. Fair enough. But let me tell you, it is also strangely enough, that in Organic Chemistry, it is often better to draw and then think about what you did (not in the lab though). It is much easier to have a structure in front of you and check for errors and improvements.
Do the first step, take the pencil and you will see that the ball gets rolling.
You have all these Organic Chemistry Practice Problems waiting to be solved!
Carbon is positively charged when, instead of the preferred four bonds, it has three bonds. Remember, from the bonding patterns in organic chemistry, carbon prefers to have four bonds and no lone pairs. These bonds can be any combination of … Read more
Sterics or steric interactions are the obstructions caused by the size of neighboring groups and atoms. In other words, it is simply two or more atoms/molecules/groups getting in each other’s way because of the tight space. So, how does stereics … Read more
You are here because you have almost figured out what polar protic and aprotic solvents are, but want to clearly understand what they have to do with SN1 and SN2 reactions, isn’t that right?To answer and understand this, let’s first … Read more
You have already learned that carbon likes to have four bonds as it fulfils the octet without the “need for thinking” about lone pairs or formal charges. So, that is the very beginning of bonding patterns in organic chemistry – … Read more
Alkenes react at low temperatures with either pure liquid bromine or a bromine solution in an organic solvent such as tetrachloromethane. During the reaction, the double bond breaks, and each carbon atom gains a bromine atom, forming a vicinal dibromide: … Read more
You have mastered the concept of resonance structures, can draw valid resonance transformations, and now all you hear is “that is a significant resonance structure” or “that is not a significant resonance structure.”So, what are significant and non-significant resonance structures? … Read more
Halonium ions are structures where a halogen atom is connected to two alkyl groups: In your organic chemistry class, you are only going to worry about a specific type of halonium ion where the halogen is part of … Read more
A very common exam question in the chapter of Acids and Bases is to ask for the most acidic proton in a molecule or when comparing two molecules. So, how do we do this?If you have already covered and … Read more
Carbocations are electron-deficient species, as the carbon atom is surrounded by only three bonds with no lone pairs. Remember, the standard bonding pattern of carbon is 4 bonds with no lone pair: So, how can we stabilize the … Read more
