Common Mistakes in Organic Chemistry: Pentavalent Carbon
Pentavalent (a.k.a. “Texas”) Carbons So what are some of the most common mistakes we can make in organic chemistry? Given the relatively qualitative nature of
Read moreDrawing Resonance Structures: 3 Common Mistakes To Avoid
How To Draw Resonance Structures: Avoiding Common Mistakes No discussion of resonance structures would be complete without mention of how to royally screw them up. This
Read moreAcid Base Reactions Are Fast
Acid-Base Reactions Are Generally Faster Than Substitution Or Addition Reactions Here is a very common dilemma in organic chemistry as you move through the latter parts
Read moreThe Most Annoying Exceptions in Org 1 (Part 1)
One of the common complaints you hear a lot from people learning English is that there are just so many exceptions. The plural of “goose”
Read moreHow to apply electronegativity and resonance to understand reactivity
Understanding “Where Are The Electrons” Is Essential To Understanding Why Reactions Happen The Way They Do One thing has been missing from the discussion of
Read morepKa Values Span 60 Orders Of Magnitude
Putting Acidity In Perspective One concept that always seems to have a hard time getting through is that of pKa. No matter how many times
Read moreThe Power of Laziness
What would you do to save 5 seconds? Let’s say it takes 10 minutes to walk from the gym to class. Would it matter much
Read moreOrganic Chemistry Study Tips: Quick Wins
Sometimes I spend time on the SDN forums to see what premeds have to say about their organic chemistry woes. Last night while poking around,
Read moreTable of Functional Group Priorities for Nomenclature
How To Determine Which Functional Group Has “Priority” For Naming Purposes When a molecule has multiple functional groups, we could potentially run into problems when
Read moreThe Six Pillars of Organic Chemistry
A few weeks ago Jeremy at The Chemistry Blog wrote a post called “Common Student Difficulties in Organic Chemistry”. Since I was flying home for
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