Learning New Reactions: How Do The Electrons Move?
The 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 moreelectron flow
How (and why) electrons flow
So what is the key “driving force” involved in chemistry? A chemist would say that “opposite charges attract, like charges repel.” But how can we
Read moreAcid-Base Reactions: Introducing Ka and pKa
The Acidity Constant Ka (And Its Negative Logarithm pKa ) Is An Extremely Useful Measure Of Acidity So last time we went through all the
Read moreCurved Arrows (for reactions)
Curved 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 moreEvaluating Resonance Forms (1) – The Rule of Least Charges
Evaluating Resonance Forms – The Rule Of Least Charges So far I’ve talked about resonance, and introduced the curved arrow formalism to show the movement
Read more“Compare Organic Chemistry To A Movie…”
Love this quote, from Organic Chemistry 1 as a Second Language by David R. Klein (fuller review to come) on organic chemistry and memorization. You
Read moreWhat makes a good leaving group?
A leaving group is a nucleophile acting in reverse; it accepts a lone pair as the bond between it and its neighbor (usually carbon for
Read more