Selectivity In Free Radical Reactions
Free Radical Chlorination: Selectivity This post is all about the selectivity of free-radical halogenation: what does “selectivity” mean, anyway? And how do we calculate it? It’s often
Read moreThe Best Way To Spend Your First Two Weeks In Organic Chem
Advice on some topics on the internet can be so laughably bad. One example that immediately comes to mind is finding a job. How
Read moreSelectivity in Free Radical Reactions: Bromination vs. Chlorination
The Selectivity of Free-Radical Bromination vs Chlorination. A Detailed Answer In last blog post on radicals we saw this data that compares the chlorination of
Read moreOrganic Chemistry For the MCAT
Many students taking organic chemistry one day plan to write the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). A common question students have for me is what
Read moreSuccess Stories: How Stu Aced Organic Chemistry
I recently got an email from a reader, Stu (not his real name) who told me he got an A in Organic Chemistry 1, and
Read moreHalogenation At Tiffany’s
Thinking Through The Selectivity of Bromination vs Chlorination: An Intuitive Analogy As we discussed in the last post on radicals, bromine radicals are considerably more
Read moreAllylic Bromination
Allylic Bromination and Benzylic Bromination: What Is It, And How Does It Work? In previous posts on radicals, we’ve seen how bromine can selectively react
Read moreBonus Topic: Allylic Rearrangements
Allylic Rearrangements – Allylic Bromination With Rearrangement In allylic bromination reactions, the C-H bond of an allylic carbon breaks, and a new C-Br bond is
Read moreHydrohalogenation of Alkenes and Markovnikov’s Rule
Hydrohalogenation of Alkenes and Markovnikov’s Rule When hydrohalic acids (HCl, HBr, HI) are added to alkenes, addition reactions can occur, resulting in formation of a
Read morePartial Reduction of Alkynes With Na/NH3 To Obtain Trans Alkenes
Partial Reduction of Alkynes to trans-Alkenes (olefins) With Sodium in Ammonia (Na/NH3) Alkynes can be hydrogenated to alkanes with Pd/C and excess H2, or partially
Read more