So far, we’ve seen a variety of nucleophiles in organic chemistry – halides, hydroxides, alkoxides, thiols, etc. Most of these nucleophiles contain heteroatoms like oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur, but nucleophiles can also be carbon-based, and these are among the most … Read more
The main Organic Chemistry 1 chapters in most US curricula go up to the reactions of alcohols. So, this summary will include synthesis practice problems on Alkenes, Alkynes, and Alcohols. If you need to practice SN1, SN2, E1, and E2 … Read more
In the previous post, we talked about the ortho-, meta-, and para-directors in electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS). Substituents on a benzene ring influence both the reactivity of the ring and the position where new groups enter. Activating groups (such as … Read more
We have seen earlier that in electrophilic aromatic substitutions, it is the benzene ring that provides the electrons to react with electron-deficient species – electrophiles.Therefore, the more electron density we supply to benzene, the more reactive it becomes in EAS … Read more
The Diels-Alder reaction is very important in Organic Chemistry. In fact, Otto Diels and Kurt Alder received the 1950’s Chemistry Nobel Prize for the discovery of this reaction back in 1928. You will see it quite often in organic synthesis … Read more
In the previous post, we discussed the principle and mechanism of the Wittig reaction. Go over those if you need to, and in the following practice problem, we will work on proposing a synthesis for Wittig reagents as well as … Read more
We discussed the mechanisms for the hydrolysis of acetals, imines, and enamine to aldehydes and ketones in the previous posts: Acetal Hydrolysis Mechanism Imine and Enamine Hydrolysis Mechanism So, here is a set of practice problems you can work on … Read more
Acetals are the protecting groups for aldehydes and ketones. They can be used, for example, when a selective reduction of an ester is needed in the presence of an aldehyde or a ketone: Remember, aldehydes are more reactive … Read more
Organic Chemistry Practice Problems can be found after each topic covered in Chemistry Steps. The list of topics can be found here, and below are some examples of what you will find. Refer to this post if you are seeking … Read more
In the previous post, we talked about the orientation effects in EAS when there is more than one substituent on the benzene ring. In short, to predict the substitution site, you need to determine the stronger activator. Using … Read more
