The SN1, E1, and Alkene Addition Reactions All Pass Through A Carbocation Intermediate
The Carbocation Intermediate That Connects The SN1, E1, And Alkene Addition Reactions Was going to include this in my last post but it was getting
Read moreWittig Reaction
The Wittig Reaction: A Useful Method For Converting Aldehydes and Ketones To Alkenes Some time ago, we learned how to turn alkenes into carbonyls via
Read more7 Factors that stabilize negative charge in organic chemistry
Understanding The 7 Key Factors That Stabilize Negative Charge (And Ultimately, Basicity) Like I wrote about in a previous post, it’s good – but not
Read moreReagent Friday: Sodium (Na)
Sodium Metal (Na) As A Reagent In Organic Chemistry In a blatant plug for the Reagent Guide and the Reagents App for iPhone, each Friday I profile a different
Read more7 Factors That Stabilize Positive Charge in Organic Chemistry
Stabilization Of Positive Charge In Organic Chemistry: 7 Key Factors Just to clarify: make sure you’re familiar with how formal charge can mislead before you
Read moreReagent Friday: Raney Nickel
Raney Nickel And The Desulfurization Of Thioacetals + Hydrogenation Of Alkenes (and Alkynes) In a blatant plug for the Reagent Guide and the Reagents App for iPhone, each Friday
Read moreBlog Carnival: What the Cope Rearrangement Taught Me About Chemistry
Note: to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry 2011, there’s a blog carnival going on. This is my contribution. If you can’t follow the structural
Read morePolar Protic? Polar Aprotic? Nonpolar? All About Solvents
Polar Protic vs Polar Aprotic vs Nonpolar: About Solvents In Organic Chemistry A lot of students I talk to have questions about solvents. Solvents can
Read moreHow to Get An A In Organic Chemistry
When I ask my students what their goal for the course is, the most common answer is this: “To get an A”. I don’t know
Read moreA Handy Rule of Thumb for Acid-Base Reactions
Reversible And Irreversible Acid-Base Reactions Last time we learned about pKa and how it’s the closest thing we have to a universal measurement of the
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