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!
A functional group is a specific atom or group of atoms within a molecule that largely determines its chemical reactivity, physical properties, and behavior in reactions. These groups are the key to understanding how and why organic molecules interact the … Read more
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In this post, we will talk about the E2 and E1 elimination reactions of substituted cyclohexanes. Let’s start with the E2 mechanism. When the following substituted cyclohexane is treated with sodium ethoxide, an E2 elimination is expected to occur, as … Read more
In the previous post, we discussed racemic mixtures which consist of equal amounts of two enantiomers. Racemic mixtures are not chiral as they are not optically active. For example, 2-bromobutane exists in two stereoisomers, more specifically two enantiomers, R and S enantiomers. … Read more
