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!
Let’s first describe what a strong base and a strong acid is in the simplest words: A strong acid, if we are talking about a protic acid and not a Lewis acid in general, is one that has no problem … Read more
Resonance structures are different Lewis structures of the same molecule, which means they represent the same molecule/ion with different electron distributions. To keep all the atoms in place but move electrons around, the molecule must have a pi (π) bond. … Read more
We have learned that resonance structures are different Lewis structures of the same molecule. In other words, they are different ways of drawing the same species. So, what does “different” refer to if they represent the same species? The term … Read more
We learn in General Chemistry that the octet rule states that atoms tend to form bonds in such a way that they are surrounded by eight electrons in their outer (valence) shell. It is a great rule, of course, but … Read more
At the beginning of your organic chemistry journey, you’re told a golden rule: carbon likes to have four bonds. This is true almost all the time. Why almost? Because you should never draw a carbon with more than four bonds. … Read more
You are in the very beginning of your organic chemistry class, and your professor has told you that carbon has / likes / prefers four bonds. This, of course, is true – the golden number of carbon is 4.You were … Read more
Functional groups are what set apart the chemical properties of organic compounds. For example, if we draw pentane and heptane, or pentanol and heptanol next to each other, they will look quite similar because the length of the carbon chain … Read more
We have seen many times in SN1, SN2, E1, and E2 reactions that halogens, more specifically, their ions called halides, are the leaving group.A common question many students wonder about, and make the mistake of, is whether an OH group … Read more
Have resonance structures been a major topic in your class recently? It may seem that there are too many rules to memorize about resonance structures, but there are a few important things you need to realize before getting into the … Read more
You’ve already learned what alkanes are, their structure, how they’re named, and you probably even remember the first ten representatives (methane through decane). Now, if we take any alkane and replace one of its hydrogen atoms with a … Read more
