Alkenes?

[trying]

Every book I look at has alkenes it in, but the aamc list of topics says nothing about alkenes. Anybody have advice about this?

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[dcpark74]

Every book I look at has alkenes it in, but the aamc list of topics says nothing about alkenes. Anybody have advice about this?

know them...they can be visualized as nucleophiles and sometimes electrophiles depending on substituents.

 

[EndSong]

You should know Alkenes for Electrophilic addition, how to make them with elimination Zsaitzev's rule and what not, also you'd need to know stuff like Huckel's rule, addition-elimintations or elimintation-additions, substituent effects, etc from Aromatic Alkenes

There might also be some really basic nomenclature and fatty acid stuff although I've never seen anything more complicated than identifying if a unsaturated fatty acid is likely to be found in what component of the cell

 

[RayhanS1282]

Every book I look at has alkenes it in, but the aamc list of topics says nothing about alkenes. Anybody have advice about this?

Just know the basics about alkenes:
(1) electrophilic addition rxn. (i.e. hydroboration, epoxide formation, hydrogenation, bromination)
(2) know conditions for Markovnikov rxn
(3) " " " anti-markovnikov rxn. (peroxide in present).
(4) formation of alkenes via elimination of -OH group on an alcohol (E1 method).

IMHO, it helps if you know the chracteristic of functional groups, i.e. the double bond in electron rich and is prone to reaction with electrophiles. Although the MCAT topics doesn't have alkenes specifically mentioned, since alkenes are products of E1 and E2 reactions, you should play it safe and know the basics. I recall the April MCAT orgo having a question on a product formed via anti-markovnikov method.

 

[PD187540]

I've searched the SDN forums, and I couldn't find any recent posts or threads about the topic of alkenes/benzene on the MCAT.

I have the 7th Edition of EK and the latest Berkeley Review Orgo books. EK still states that alkenes won't be tested on the MCAT, and the AAMC does not list alkenes or benzene in the topics. The 2012 (yes, 2012) edition of BR Orgo STILL discusses alkene chemistry in Part I, Section IV (hydrocarbon reactions).

What exactly is the truth here in 2011? My guess is that I can completely disregard the alkene and benzene sections from both books, and only strictly go by the AAMC topics. Alkenes may be products of certain reactions, which is fair game, but anything involving STRICTLY alkenes or benzene as reactants in problems should not be included. The alkene or benzene can be seen in a larger molecule, but questions should not be solely directed at those particular groups (only for other functional groups on the molecule).

Is that fair reasoning?

Good news is that this eliminates a nice chunk of questions

 

[Fluxx]

any updates on this ? my 2013-2014 TPR book has sn1/sn2 e1/e2 stuff w/ alkenes but it's not on the official MCAT topic list

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The 2012 (yes, 2012) edition of BR Orgo STILL discusses alkene chemistry in Part I, Section IV (hydrocarbon reactions).

If you look at pages 15 and 16 of the AAMC list of topics and the section in the BR book you are referring to, you'll notice that there is plenty of overlap. There is no alkene reaction chemistry whatsoever in either the BR book or the AAMC list, but there is general elimination in both (seen with alpha,beta unsaturation in AAMC and as E1 and E2 foundation information and alpha-beta material in BR) and then specifically Hofmann elimination (page 277 in book 1 of BR). There is also information on electrocyclic reactions and terpenes, both of which you will find on the AAMC list as well.

Benzene reactions, alkene reactions, and ether reactions have been removed since 2004, when AAMC removed them. The pi-bond information listed above has remained, because we very much want our students to go into the MCAT prepared for anything with a chance of showing. It's up to you if you opt to skip that section. Statistically speaking, with organic chemistry lightly tested, there's a very good chance you'll be fine skipping this information. But there is always that small chance that there will be a passage on the light-stimulated biosynthesis of something like Vitamin D, and you'll need to have a basic understanding of electrocylic chemistry. Or they may talk about a natural product like carvone (a terpene) and how an electrocyclic reaction and an addition reaction of a pyrophosphorylated isoprene to itself was employed to synthesize it. Understanding the basics will make a big difference, and that is what that chapter aims to do.

Considering how recently the BR organic books were revised, it's not an oversight that the information in chapter 4 is in there.