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
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Partial Charges Give Clues About Electron Flow
There’s a hidden layer of detail beneath chemical structures that students new to organic chemistry often miss. I’m talking about partial charges. Although each of
Read moreActivating and Deactivating Groups In Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution
Activating and Deactivating Groups in Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution The rate of electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS) reactions is greatly affected by the groups attached to the
Read moreMeet the (Most Important) Functional Groups
All About Functional Groups Functional groups are specific groupings of atoms within molecules that have their own characteristic properties, regardless of the other atoms present
Read moreSigma bonds come in six varieties: Pi bonds come in one
You may recall from Gen chem (and no doubt your first week of o-chem as well), that orbitals on carbon come in two flavors: s
Read moreThe Three Classes of Nucleophiles
I 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
Read moreFive Key Factors That Influence Acidity
Five Key Factors That Affect Acidity Today we’ll talk about what’s behind the trends in acidity for different molecules and discuss the most important factors
Read moreWhat Makes A Good Nucleophile?
Factors That Determine Whether A Species Is A Good Nucleophile If you read the last post, you’ll recall that a nucleophile is a species that
Read moreDipole Moments and Dipoles
Dipole Moments After reading this article and doing the quizzes at the bottom, you should be able to Apply electronegativity to identify covalent and polar
Read moreThe Four Intermolecular Forces and How They Affect Boiling Points
Properties like melting and boiling points are a measure of how strong the attractive forces are between individual atoms or molecules. (We call these intermolecular
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