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!
In today’s post, we will discuss the physical properties of alkanes and cycloalkanes, such as their boiling points, melting points, and solubility in water and organic solvents. So, let’s start with the boiling point of alkanes. Boiling Point and … Read more
Let’s work through a common question: drawing all the isomers of C₄H₁₀O. The first thing you want to do is calculate the degree of unsaturation so that you know whether there are any π bonds or ring systems in these … Read more
In the previous post, we saw that butane has two isomers: n-Butane and isobutane, which have the same chemical formula of C4H10 but a different connectivity of the atoms: A quick reminder that isomers, or more specifically constitutional … Read more
Before drawing all the isomers of butane (C₄H₁₀), let’s quickly recall that isomers are compounds that have the same molecular formula but different connectivity of atoms. In simpler words, the composition is the same, but the atoms are connected in … Read more
We have learned that bicyclic compounds are cyclic molecules containing two rings that share two or more atoms. The shared atoms are called bridgehead carbons, and the atoms connecting them form the bridges of the bicyclic system. One … Read more
We have seen earlier in the chapter on alcohols that the carbonyl group can be reduced to an alcohol by different methods, such as using LiAlH4, NaBH4, or even catalytic hydrogenation. Now, very often in synthesis problems, we … Read more
We have seen that in the aldol condensation, the nucleophile is the alpha carbon that is activated in the form of an enolate. An interesting example of the aldol condensation is the crossed-aldol condensation, where one of the carbonyl compounds … Read more
We have seen that because of the rigid/locked nature of the double bond, alkenes are characterized by cis and trans isomerism. Cis and trans isomers are stereoisomers that are configurational isomers, meaning they cannot interconvert unless we break the bonds … Read more
We have seen earlier that alcohols can be converted to the corresponding alkyl halides by reacting them with hydrohalic acids such as HCl, HBr, and HI. The key principle here is the conversion of the OH group into a better … Read more
We have seen earlier that both aldoses and ketoses can be oxidized by a variety of methods, such as Tollens’ reagent, Fehling’s solution, and bromine water, to form aldonic acids. For example, glucose is oxidized at the aldehyde group to … Read more
