Common Mistakes: Formal Charges Can Mislead
Sometimes The “Formal Charge” Does Not Accurately Represent The Electron Density Around An Atom! Formal charges have their plusses and minuses. Har har. In many
Read moreSometimes The “Formal Charge” Does Not Accurately Represent The Electron Density Around An Atom! Formal charges have their plusses and minuses. Har har. In many
Read moreTo my knowledge there are 8 different types of arrows you meet in organic chemistry. Here’s a little guide to them. 1. The forward arrow,
Read moreThe most important question when learning a new reaction is recognizing “What Bonds Form, What Bonds Break?” If that’s #1, then what’s the second most
Read moreHow Do The Electrons Move? “Electron Pushing” With The Three Types Of Curved Arrows When learning any new reaction, I think you always have to
Read moreCurved Arrows: The Accounting System For Electron Movement If you think of electrons as the currency of chemistry, reactions are transactions of electrons between atoms.
Read moreCurved Arrows In Organic Chemistry: Always Change Two (And Only Two!) Charges Here’s a handy little trick for accounting for charges when you draw curved
Read moreCurved Arrows And Resonance Structures Previously in this series on resonance, we saw that resonance forms represent two (or more) different ways to draw the
Read moreEvaluating Resonance Forms – The Rule Of Least Charges So far we’ve introduced resonance, and introduced the curved arrow formalism to show the movement of
Read moreEvaluating Resonance Structures With Negative Charges: Some Key Principles So far in discussing resonance forms we’ve mentioned two important principles that govern which resonance form
Read moreI know I’ve said this before, but a whole lot of organic chemistry can be boiled down to “nucleophile attacks electrophile“. A nucleophile is a
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