listen up, dudes, Iâm going to teach you how to kick orgoâs ass.
exam study pack printables
tips for a productive study session
tips for effective studying
mentally prepping yourself for an exam
surviving orgo masterpost
good for learning specific difficult concepts
chemistry help masterposts
reaction summaries and practice problems
reaction quizzes and summaries
the six pillars of organic chemistry
cute doodles of the fundamentals of orgo
masterpost of chemistry resources
functional groups infographic
spectral database for organic compounds
NMR: proton chemical shift table
NMR: carbon chemical shift table
Most reactions in orgo involve an electron-rich species (a nucleophile) attacking an electron-poor species (an electrophile). Â When you look at a reaction, identify the nucleophile and electrophile and where exactly the attack will take place.
The most stable product is the one that will form. Â What makes a product stable?
conjugated double bonds and aromatic rings
tertiary carbocations (over primary and secondary carbocations)
five and six carbon rings
the chair conformation (over the boat conformation)
minimal charge separation
trans double bonds (over cis double bonds) and E isomers (over Z isomers)
Molecules with the same functional groups will react in the same way. Â Learn the properties and reactions associated with each functional group.
Read your textbook before class. Â An absolute must. Â Otherwise, youâll be totally lost during the lecture.
Review your notes after class to touch up any details you didnât have time to write down during class and to make sure that information sticks in your brain. Â You can use post-it notes or a different colored pen to do this.
If your professor tells you they want something memorizedâi.e, nomenclature rules or all of the amino acidsâmake damn sure you have that memorized. As soon as they mention that, make flash cards. Â Take them with you and review them during your spare time. Â Sleep with them. Â You never know how many easy points youâd miss if you didnât bother to memorize stuff.
Take notes from your textbook. Â Writing stuff down helps you remember it better. Â Write down each major reactionâthe structures of the reactants, intermediates, and products. Â Why are these molecules reacting the way they are? Â Whatâs the flow of electrons during this reaction? Â How does the structure of the product affect its stability?
Talk through the reactions, either to yourself or to a friend. Â You might find yourself figuring out stuff that was previously a mystery.
Do practice problems!! Â The day before an exam, I would lock myself in a classroom and write the reactions on the whiteboard over and over. Â You lean by doing, not by reading your notes.
Do not leave lab write-ups to the last minute.  My best friend and I were lab partners (which was great, make sure you have a lab partner you can trust to do their part!) and we would make a list of everything we had to do for each labâIR and NMR graphs, analyses, conclusions, etcâand knock off one lab at a time in the week before theyâd be due.  I canât tell you how many people I saw trying to write up six labs the night before (and write-ups usually take ~3 hours each soâŚ)
Talk to your professor, teacher, your course tutor, or a friend. Â Theyâre here to help you if youâre struggling with something. Â (You can also ask me specific orgo questions and Iâll do my best to help you or point you to someone who knows more than me!!)
