s-cis and s-trans
“s-cis and s-trans conformations of dienes.” What does those terms mean? As we’ll soon see, in the Diels-Alder reaction, it’s important that the diene be
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Types of Isomers: Constitutional Isomers, Stereoisomers, Enantiomers, and Diastereomers
Types of Isomers: Constitutional Isomers, Stereoisomers, Enantiomers, And Diastereomers How do we tell if molecules are “related”? And once we know that they are, how
Read moreAssigning R/S To Newman Projections (And Converting Newman To Line Diagrams)
Determining R and S Configurations of Newman Projections How do you determine R and S configurations on Newman projections? The key is to be able to quickly
Read moreThe Ups and Downs of Cyclohexanes
Drawing cyclohexane chair forms can be a tricky business. While it’s often intuitive to pick out which groups are up and down when they’re axial
Read moreOn Cats, Part 3: Newman Projections
Do you know where the saying “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” comes from? Me neither. But I do know one thing:
Read moreOn Cats, Part 1: Conformations and Configurations
[NOTE: this has been amended to correct some confusion on my part on the difference between configurational and constitutional isocats. Thanks to Prof. Gary Weisman
Read moreThe Many, Many Ways of Drawing Butane
One of the skills you have to develop early in Org 1 is to learn the different conventions for drawing molecules. Let’s use butane as
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