How Much Does Having A Great Memory Matter?
I recently heard from a reader, Hussain, who told me that he’d been working on memory techniques that allowed him to memorize a deck of
Read moreOxidation and Reduction in Organic Chemistry
Iron smelting! Photo credit: http://sclowcountryoutdoors.blogspot.com/2011/02/iron-smelting-at-acba.html In the beginning, the term actually made sense. When the alchemists and medieval metallurgists started doing experiments to quantify exactly how
Read moreHow Esther Bounced Back From a “C” To Get A’s In Organic Chemistry 1 And 2
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
Read morePartial Reduction of Alkynes With Lindlar Catalyst
Partial Reduction of Alkynes to cis Alkenes with the Lindlar Catalyst Alkynes are generally more reactive towards catalytic hydrogenation (e.g. Pd-C, H2) than alkenes While
Read moreHow Tyrell Got The Highest Grade In Her Organic Chemistry Course
Reader “Tyrell” (not her real name) kindly wrote the other week with her story of how she got the highest mark in her organic chemistry
Read moreThis Is Why Students Use Flashcards
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
Read moreDeciding SN1/SN2/E1/E2 (2): The Nucleophile/Base
SN1 / SN2 / E1 / E2 The Nucleophile / Base This article assumes you understand the mechanisms of the SN1/SN2/E1 and E2 reactions. For
Read moreThe Organic Chemistry Behind “The Pill”
The Most Interesting Man In The World passed away the other week. No, not THAT guy. He’s just an actor. The OTHER guy. The OTHER
Read moreFree Radical Reactions
Free Radical Reactions – Chlorination of Methane Alkanes are pretty boring, chemically speaking. They don’t tend to undergo many reactions. However, when they are treated
Read more3 Factors That Stabilize Free Radicals
What Factors Affect Free-Radical Stability? In the last article we introduced free radicals – neutral, electron-deficient chemical species with a partially filled orbital – and
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