Synthesis

Why the SN2 Reaction Is Powerful

July 11, 2012

Having gone through the mechanism of the SN2 reaction, let’s take a second and look at why it might be useful. In nucleophilic substitution reactions, we’re trading a carbon-(leaving group) bond for a carbon-(nucleophile) bond. If we choose a good leaving group – i.e. an appropriately weak base – we can use this reaction with [...]

Tagged as: acetylenes, alcohols, azides, elimination, esters, ethers, halides, nitriles, nucleophiles, SN2, substitution, synthesis, thiols

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Organic Chemistry Study Tips: Reaction Maps

Organic Chemistry Study Tips: Reaction Maps

May 7, 2012

This time of year one of the most common problems students come to me with is how to do synthesis problems. Like this:  There’s a lot of different ways to go about learning how to do synthesis – and I’ll have a lot more to say about that in future posts – but today’s post [...]

Tagged as: grignard, ketones, reactions, retrosynthesis, secondary alcohols, study tips, synthesis

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