Nucleophilic Acyl Substitution (With Negatively Charged Nucleophiles) Yes, there are a lot of reactions of carboxylic acid derivatives to learn! In this article we’ll explore
Read moreThere’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 moreWhen figuring out what the product of a reaction is, there are really two important steps. 1. Figuring out where the electrons go. 2. Drawing
Read moreWhat Bonds Form, What Bonds Break? About a month or so ago I had a big revelation as an instructor. Something that I’d been taking
Read moreIntroduction to Rearrangement Reactions Reactions that involve a carbocation intermediate may be accompanied by rearrangements where a pair of electrons from a C-H or C-C bond
Read moreOrganic Chemistry 2 Is Largely About “Resonance” A large part of organic chemistry 1 is devoted to laying the foundations: introducing structural concepts such as
Read moreIf Org 2 has an overall theme, it’s “resonance”. Today’s post has a very simple message. Atoms with lone pairs, π bonds, radicals, and carbocations can
Read moreHow To Draw The Enantiomer Of A Compound – The Single Swap Rule Exchanging any two groups on a chiral center will flip the R/S
Read moreSodium borohydride (NaBH4) For the Reduction of Aldehydes and Ketones Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is a convenient source of hydride ion (H-) for the reduction of
Read moreRecognizing Meso Compounds In chemistry, two molecules that are superimposable mirror images are considered to be identical molecules. They will have identical physical properties in all respects.
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