Number Your Carbons!
My one-sentence advice to those about to write an exam: Number your carbons. Now go write your exam. If you need reasons, here they are.
Read moreWhat Makes A Good Nucleophile?
Factors That Determine Whether A Species Is A Good Nucleophile If you read the last post, you’ll recall that a nucleophile is a species that
Read moreWhat Makes A Good Leaving Group?
Good Leaving Groups Are Weak Bases A leaving group (a.k.a. “nucleofuge”) is the new Lewis base that is generated in various substitution and elimination reactions when
Read more3 Factors That Stabilize Carbocations
Carbocations: Properties, Formation, and Stability Carbocations are electron-deficient species with an empty p-orbital Lacking a full octet and bearing a positive charge, they tend to
Read moreOrganic Chemistry Study Tips: How to use a “Study Buddy”
I can’t claim credit for this idea but unfortunately I can’t remember where I read it either. Here’s a helpful and quick way to make
Read moreEquilibrium and Energy Relationships
One kcal/mol is actually a lot This article discusses the relationship between the equilibrium constant K and the difference in energy ΔG, and explores some
Read moreThe Cope and Claisen Rearrangements
Cousins Of The Diels-Alder: The Cope Rearrangement and The Claisen Rearrangement The Cope Rearrangement and Claisen Rearrangement are pericyclic reactions in the same family as
Read moreTake “Don’t Memorize!” with a grain of salt
Loyal reader Sandy writes in with a comment about memorization: I wish I had understood much earlier that there is a place for memorization in
Read moreSigma bonds come in six varieties: Pi bonds come in one
You may recall from Gen chem (and no doubt your first week of o-chem as well), that orbitals on carbon come in two flavors: s
Read moreA Key Skill: How to Calculate Formal Charge
How To Calculate Formal Charge To calculate the formal charge of an atom, we start by: evaluating the number of valence electrons (VE) the neutral
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