Protecting Groups For Alcohols

Alcohol Protecting Groups There are many times when it’s useful to mask the reactivity of alcohols since their relatively high acidity interferes with strongly basic

Success Stories: How Zach Aced Organic Chemistry 1

With the first semester over, I recently asked my readers if they could share their stories of how they succeeded [or even failed in] organic

Thiols And Thioethers

Thiols and Thioethers: Properties and Key Reactions If you can get beyond their foul smells, thiols have a lot of similar characteristics to alcohols! Like

Calculating the oxidation state of a carbon

Try applying the rules for calculating oxidation states to carbon.

It’s going to feel a little bit weird. Why? Because there are two key differences.

First, carbon is often more electronegative (2.5) than some of the atoms it’s bound to (such as H, 2.2). So what do you do in this case?
Secondly, unlike metal-metal bonds, carbon-carbon bonds are ubiquitous. So how do you deal with them?

Regiochemistry In The Diels-Alder Reaction

Regiochemistry (“Regioselectivity”) In The Diels-Alder Reaction The Diels-Alder is an onion, and we just keep peeling back the layers. When non-symmetrical dienes react with non-symmetrical

Sigma 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

Introduction to Cycloalkanes

Cycloalkanes: Two Key Consequences of The Fact That Hydrocarbons Can Form Rings In the first few weeks of an organic chemistry class, we’ve learned that:

Success Stories: How Kari Went From C– to B+

In this week’s success story, reader Kari writes in from a large university in Minnesota, saying, “I really underestimated the power of group study until

Organic Chemistry Is Shit

The Chemical Formula For Poop (Among Other Things) Some days you might feel like you can’t escape organic chemistry. You leave the lecture hall and

Geometric Isomers In Small Rings: Cis And Trans Cycloalkanes

Geometric Isomers: Cis vs Trans Cycloalkanes In the last post, we mentioned that one of the consequences of the fact that carbon can form rings