Degrees of Unsaturation (Index of Hydrogen Deficiency)
The molecular formula of a compound can give helpful hints about its structure. Today we’ll talk about a quick and useful calculation we can perform to obtain the number
Read moreSpectroscopy
How Bleach Works: Understanding Colors From Nature
Why are tomatoes red? Why are carrots orange? Why are egg yolks yellow? And… why is Vulcan blood green? OK, I’m not going to touch that last
Read moreIntroduction To UV-Vis Spectroscopy
In today’s post we’ll discuss why most molecules are colourless, introduce the useful technique of UV-visible spectroscopy, and finally explain why molecules like chlorophyll and β-carotene
Read moreUV-Vis Spectroscopy: Absorbance of Carbonyls
In our last post we showed that molecules with C-C pi (π) bonds absorb light in the UV-visible region, which promotes electrons from (bonding) π orbitals to
Read moreUV-Vis Spectroscopy: Some Practice Questions
In the past few posts we’ve covered some of the key points of UV-Vis spectroscopy. Now comes the key question: how do we apply it?
Read moreBond Vibrations, IR Spectroscopy, and the “Ball and Spring” Model
In This Post Why do UV spectra have such broad peaks? The “stadium” analogy. Introduction to vibrational energy levels. Visualizing different vibrational energy levels A
Read moreInfrared Spectroscopy: A Quick Primer On Interpreting Spectra
How To Interpret IR Spectra In 1 Minute Or Less: The 2 Most Important Things To Look For [Tongue and Sword] Last post, we briefly introduced
Read moreIR Spectroscopy: Some Simple Practice Problems
By itself, Infrared (IR) spectroscopy isn’t a great technique for solving the structure of an unknown molecule. However, we’ve seen that IR spectroscopy can a
Read moreHomotopic, Enantiotopic, Diastereotopic
When you have two hydrogens attached to a single carbon, they can have three different types of relationships. We call them “homotopic”, “enantiotopic”, and “diastereotopic”.
Read moreLiquid Gold: Pheromones In Doe Urine
That Time My Car Got Rear Ended And I Found A Bottle Of Deer Urine In The Trunk Of My Rental Car A few months
Read more