What makes a good leaving group?
Good Leaving Groups Are Weak Bases A leaving group (a.k.a. “nucleofuge”) is the new Lewis base that is generated in various substitution and elimination reactions when
Read moreReagent Friday: Sodium (Na)
Sodium Metal (Na) As A Reagent In Organic Chemistry In a blatant plug for the Reagent Guide and the Reagents App for iPhone, each Friday I profile a different
Read more3 Factors That Stabilize Carbocations
Carbocations: Properties, Formation, and Stability Carbocations are electron-deficient species with an empty p-orbital Lacking a full octet and bearing a positive charge, they tend to
Read moreReagent Friday: Raney Nickel
Raney Nickel And The Desulfurization Of Thioacetals + Hydrogenation Of Alkenes (and Alkynes) In a blatant plug for the Reagent Guide and the Reagents App for iPhone, each Friday
Read moreBlog Carnival: What the Cope Rearrangement Taught Me About Chemistry
Note: to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry 2011, there’s a blog carnival going on. This is my contribution. If you can’t follow the structural
Read moreHow to Get An A In Organic Chemistry
When I ask my students what their goal for the course is, the most common answer is this: “To get an A”. I don’t know
Read more“Reagents”: A Pocket Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Chemistry
Reagents is a new app for iPhone and iPad that gives you all the key information about the most commonly encountered reagents in undergraduate organic chemistry
Read moreReagent Friday: PCC (Pyridinium Chlorochromate)
Pyridinium Chlorochromate (PCC), A Useful Oxidant For Alcohols In Organic Chemistry In a blatant plug for the Reagent Guide, each Friday I profile a different reagent
Read moreHammond’s Postulate
Last week Diana left this comment: I recently had my first orgo exam and one of the concepts that I have trouble visceralizing is Hammond’s
Read moreDi-isobutyl Aluminum Hydride (DIBAL) For The Partial Reduction of Esters and Nitriles
DIBAL (Di-isobutyl Aluminum Hydride) – A Bulky Reducing Agent For The Partial Reduction Of Esters and Nitriles DIBAL (also known as DIBAL-H or DIBAH) is
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