Nucleophilic Acyl Substitution (With Negatively Charged Nucleophiles) Yes, there are a lot of reactions of carboxylic acid derivatives to learn! In this article we’ll explore
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When figuring out what the product of a reaction is, there are really two important steps. 1. Figuring out where the electrons go. 2. Drawing
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What Bonds Form, What Bonds Break? About a month or so ago I had a big revelation as an instructor. Something that I’d been taking
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Does your school have that one “hard” organic chemistry instructor that most students try to avoid? Today’s success story comes from Corina, a student in
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The Simple Two-Step Pattern For Seven Key Reactions Of Aldehydes And Ketones “There are just so many reactions! I can’t remember all the mechanisms!!” – distressed
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With the first semester over, I recently asked my readers if they could share their stories of how they succeeded [or even failed in] organic
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The importance of attitude The student who is the subject of today’s success story, Esther, didn’t start off doing well in organic chemistry. Actually, she
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A long but interesting letter from a reader who I’ll call “Annie” on how preparing for an exam the “right way” (learning the mechanisms for
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The other week, loyal reader “John” (not his real name) wrote in to tell me how he had pulled up his exam grade in organic
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Do you ever study by making flashcards of reactions? You might recall that a few months ago Rich Apodaca (of Metamolecular) and myself released the
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