Organic Chemistry Study Tips: Quick Wins
Sometimes I spend time on the SDN forums to see what premeds have to say about their organic chemistry woes. Last night while poking around,
Read moreTable of Functional Group Priorities for Nomenclature
How To Determine Which Functional Group Has “Priority” For Naming Purposes When a molecule has multiple functional groups, we could potentially run into problems when
Read moreThe Six Pillars of Organic Chemistry
A few weeks ago Jeremy at The Chemistry Blog wrote a post called “Common Student Difficulties in Organic Chemistry”. Since I was flying home for
Read moreLewis Structures
There are essentially three uses for Lewis structures. They’re good at helping you get acquainted with the placement of electrons around atoms, helping to visualize
Read moreIonic and Covalent Bonding
Coulomb’s law – the attraction and repulsion between charges – affects the properties of atoms, and is responsible for the phenomenon of chemical bonding. Atoms
Read moreChemical Kinetics
Chemical kinetics is the study of reaction rates. It can be really important in figuring out the mechanisms of chemical reactions. Here are the essentials
Read moreOrganic Chemistry Study Tips – Reframe Answers As Questions
Let’s take a quick look at this reaction. Here’s one way to study it: look at the starting material, look at the reagents, look at
Read moreChemical Equilibria
Chemical Equilibria In chemistry, irreversible reactions get all the press: the familiar fires and explosions that are well represented on YouTube. The thing is, not
Read moreThe Most Annoying Exceptions in Org 1 (Part 2)
Last time we talked about how some interesting electronic effects can lead to unexpected results in organic chemistry. Today we look at three examples of
Read moreSummary Sheet – Alkane Nomenclature
Part of the problem with nomenclature is that the trivial names can cause a lot of confusion. By themselves, the IUPAC names are at least
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