Grignard Reagents For Addition To Aldehydes and Ketones
Grignard Reagents: Their Formation, Reactions, And Reaction Mechanisms Today’s reagent is one that most students have experience in making at some point or another. Grignard
Read more7 Factors That Stabilize Positive Charge in Organic Chemistry
Stabilization Of Positive Charge In Organic Chemistry: 7 Key Factors Just to clarify: make sure you’re familiar with how formal charge can mislead before you
Read moreNumber Your Carbons!
My one-sentence advice to those about to write an exam: Number your carbons. Now go write your exam. If you need reasons, here they are.
Read moreNucleophiles and Electrophiles
Nucleophiles and Electrophiles, Nucleophilicity and Electrophilicity All through the series on understanding where electrons are, and how they flow, we’ve been talking about how the
Read moreCurved Arrows (for reactions)
Curved Arrows: The Accounting System For Electron Movement If you think of electrons as the currency of chemistry, reactions are transactions of electrons between atoms.
Read moreCurved Arrows (2): Initial Tails and Final Heads
Curved Arrows In Organic Chemistry: Always Change Two (And Only Two!) Charges Here’s a handy little trick for accounting for charges when you draw curved
Read moreOrganic Chemistry Study Tips: How to use a “Study Buddy”
I can’t claim credit for this idea but unfortunately I can’t remember where I read it either. Here’s a helpful and quick way to make
Read moreNucleophilicity vs. Basicity
Understanding The Differences Between Nucleophilicity vs Basicity Following up on Nucleophiles and Electrophiles, here’s a common question students have about nucleophilicity: 1. What’s the difference
Read moreThe Cope and Claisen Rearrangements
Cousins Of The Diels-Alder: The Cope Rearrangement and The Claisen Rearrangement The Cope Rearrangement and Claisen Rearrangement are pericyclic reactions in the same family as
Read moreTake “Don’t Memorize!” with a grain of salt
Loyal reader Sandy writes in with a comment about memorization: I wish I had understood much earlier that there is a place for memorization in
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