Common Mistakes with Carbonyls: Carboxylic Acids… Are Acids!
Carboxylic acids… are acids. I know that seems obvious. But it’s a near certainty that students taking Org 2 for the first time will forget
Read moreacidity
Alcohols (3) – Acidity and Basicity
In the last post we said that one of the keys to the reactions of alcohols as we go forward is that the conjugate acid is
Read moreSimplifying the reactions of carboxylic acid derivatives (part 1)
I’ve had a fair number of emails over the past week or two from students who say that they are having a hard time keeping
Read moreThe 2 Most Important Reactions of Alkynes
With the series of posts on alkenes in the can, let’s move on and talk about a closely related functional group that shares many reactions
Read moreWalkthrough of Acid Base Reactions (1)
Now that we’ve described how to figure out where the electrons are in a molecule, the factors that stabilize negative charge and positive charge, and
Read moreWalkthrough of Acid-Base Reactions (3) – Acidity Trends
Let’s review what’s been talked about so far in this series on acid-base reactions: An acid base reaction involves the donation of a proton (H+)
Read moreFive Key Factors That Influence Acidity
Today we’ll talk about what’s behind the trends in acidity for different molecules and discuss the most important factors that determine these values. I’ve written
Read moreWalkthrough of Acid-Base reactions (4) – pKa
So last time we went through all the different trends that affect acidity. The bottom line is that any factor which stabilizes the conjugate base
Read moreHow to Use a pKa Table
Today we’ll talk about an incredibly important skill that might take some time to grasp but pays tremendous dividends. We’ll go through the exact details of how to use a pKa table. Understanding the proper use of a pKa table will give you the ability to recognize which acid-base reactions will happen and which will not. This will come up a lot as you progress through Org 1 and Org 2. It might be helpful to go back and review some of the factors that affect acidity that were talked about earlier.
Read moreThe pKa Table Is Your Friend
The importance of pKas in organic chemistry can’t be overestimated, in my opinion. Not knowing pKa’s in organic chemistry is like not knowing the value
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