Nucleophiles and Electrophiles
All through the series on understanding where electrons are, and how they flow, we’ve been talking about how the basis of chemistry is that opposite
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Nucleophilicity vs. Basicity
Following up on Nucleophiles and Electrophiles, here’s a common question students have about nucleophilicity: What’s the difference between nucleophilicity and basicity? Great, great question. First
Read moreWhat makes a good leaving group?
A leaving group is a nucleophile acting in reverse; it accepts a lone pair as the bond between it and its neighbor (usually carbon for
Read moreA Handy Rule of Thumb for Acid-Base Reactions
Last time I talked about pKa and how it’s the closest thing we have to a universal measurement of the strengths of all kinds of
Read moreThe Organic Chemistry Reagent Guide is here!
It’s taken a long time – late April through early May was hectic – but today I’m thrilled to finally announce the launch of the
Read moreLet’s Talk About the [1,2] Elimination
(part IV of a series on the reaction mechanisms of neutral nucleophiles in carbonyl chemistry) As I mentioned n the previous post in this series, if
Read moreGen Chem and Organic Chem: How are they different?
After finishing my freshman year of college, I spent my summer in the university town where I went to school. I had a menial telemarketing
Read moreFrom Gen Chem to Org Chem, Pt. 9 – Acids and Bases
First of all, back to the shepherds: Oxygius, having six sheep to take care of, found he could make a bargain with two of the
Read moreThe Magic Wand of Proton Transfer
When textbooks (or your teacher/TA/tutor) start writing down reaction mechanisms, sometimes you’ll see hell of a lot of curved arrows. The curved arrow notation is useful
Read moreThe Power of Acid Catalysis
When I talked about 10 key concepts in carbonyl chemistry a few weeks ago, there was one subject that I wanted to talk about in
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