Another Organic Chemistry Thread!

[CoolBiomedical]

Hello,

I know these questions have been asked a lot. I have heard that organic chemistry is one of the scariest courses one can take. General chemistry was difficult for me because of the math, and it does not pique my interest for some reason. I have all A's in my biology and A&P courses, I find that material to be fascinating and enjoy learning it, so it sticks. My general chemistry courses were taught like applied mathematics. One kid in my class even told me he has no idea what the book is saying, but he learned some patterns in the math, so he gets by. I am not sure what that says about the course, but I think one should understand the concepts of a science course if they are taking one.
Anyway, I do extremely well with memorizing and understanding "why" things happen. I was allowed to take a cell biology course long ago during my undergraduate studies back in 2007. I did really well in it without previous chemistry experience, but it interested me.
I am asking a sort of generic question, but I just want some opinions. Do you think someone like me, who is actually interested in the science do really well in organic chemistry? On a difficulty level, how would you compare it to an A&P course where the exams are extremely detailed and only 1/3 of the class is left by the end of the semester?

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[Major]

Only one way to find out

 

[goft20]

Ochem is just following the electrons and memorizing reactions, learning stereochemistry, and having a good gen chem foundation. It may seem daunting but it is really not that bad if you spend the time.


I actually found synthesis and spectroscopy to be quite fun after getting the hang of it. They are like puzzles.





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[virtualmaster999]

Ochem is just following the electrons and memorizing reactions, learning stereochemistry, and having a good gen chem foundation. It may seem daunting but it is really not that bad if you spend the time.


I actually found synthesis and spectroscopy to be quite fun after getting the hang of it. They are like puzzles.

True! Ochem has been my favorite class!



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[LMBLBM]

YES definitely. If you do extremely well with understanding, read Advanced Organic Chemistry Part A: Structure and Mechanism. Such a great book!!! It provides in-dept explanation of Orgo

 

[zzxxzz]

Organic is 50% rote memorization and 50% conceptual understanding. Few students are great at both.

 

[CoolBiomedical]

If it is simply memorization and conceptual understanding, I will love it. I guess I am one of those rare students.

Thanks for the input so far everyone. My friends have told me similarly, that it is very unlike general chemistry, aside from brief review of some concepts from it. I always did great in general chemistry labs, but the math really bored me, and my teachers taught the rest of the course as though the math was all that mattered.

LMBLBM, thanks for the book suggestion too. I read some reviews and obtained some more information on it and ordered it, I look forward to actually reading something I find interesting, again! I am so glad I do not have to take any other general chemistry courses...

 

[redr0ck]

Don't worry, OChem isn't math-heavy at all. For the most part, it's separate from Gen Chem, except for Lewis acid-bases and molecular orbital theory. You should definitely be solid on those topics before starting OChem.

By working through lots of problems and writing out mechanisms, you'll gradually gain OChem "intuition." Chemistry is actually very logical and coherent in my opinion, and once you understand what is chemically favorable, electron behavior, stability, trends, etc. you can draw analogies to problem-solve instead of memorizing reactions, which will get you nowhere once the professor slightly tweaks the reaction so it doesn't exactly match what you memorized. True, there is some memorization required (e.g. pKa values, Sn1/2, E1/2, reagents, etc)...but if you find yourself relying heavily on flashcards, you're doing it wrong.

I would highly recommend Klein's "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language." Very clear explanations on the concepts and great examples/practice problems to drive the point home. I would also suggest Karty's "The Nuts and Bolts of Organic Chemistry," although this book is not quite as popular for some reason. Keep in mind that these books alone are not enough to master OChem, but they'll help you get into the groove of OChem-type thinking.

 

[Heday]

Organic is 50% rote memorization and 50% conceptual understanding. Few students are great at both.

I disagree. I would say more like 25-75 because some of the memorization can be forgone if you have a good foundation of the conceptual stuff.

Memorization includes: functional groups, naming system (E/Z, cis-trans, R/S included), spectroscopy data (e.g. C=O shows up at 1800-cm), mechanisms of really odd reactions (in the scope of sophmore orgo) if required, certain laboratory techniques, general range of pKa values for functional groups, Substitution/Elimination reaction conditions... that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[zzxxzz]

I disagree. I would say more like 25-75 because some of the memorization can be forgone if you have a good foundation of the conceptual stuff.

Memorization includes: functional groups, naming system (E/Z, cis-trans, R/S included), spectroscopy data (e.g. C=O shows up at 1800-cm), mechanisms of really odd reactions (in the scope of sophmore orgo) if required, certain laboratory techniques, general range of pKa values for functional groups, Substitution/Elimination reaction conditions... that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

...and a bunch of industrial reactions that you won't need to know for the MCAT. The standard reactions you can get from conceptual understanding, but my least favorite part was memorizing a bunch of weird reagents and what they did.