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Difference between orgo 1 and orgo 2
- Thread starter asigna
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I'd like to know too. I just finished Orgo 1 too and start back up soon.
Starting off with IR and NMR.
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Orgo 1 teaches you the basics, Orgo 2 teaches you specific reactions using them (saponification, esterifcation, more complex substitution reactions, etc). If you know the basics, there's no need to really memorize all the hundreds of reactions. You can reason out the mechanism using what you learned from Orgo 1. If you memorized stuff from Orgo 1 (memorize properties of SN1/SN2 reactions without knowing WHY there's 50/50 racemic mixture in SN1 or why SN2 is 2nd-order etc etc) without really understanding, you will have a hard time in Orgo 2.
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2 is much easier
4
487806
Orgo 2 builds on the material from orgo 1. You'll cover more complicated reactions along with spectroscopy material in orgo 2.
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Orgo 1 = naming/stuctures/basics
Orgo 2 = mechanisms, synthesis and introduction to families (ethers, esters, organo-metallics, etc)
Orgo 3 = Continuation of orgo 2 (more families/famous mechanisms)
The biggest difficulty jump by far was from ochem 1 to 2. There is an adjustment period I think when learning to do step-wise synthesis problems. You really didn't get much of it in orgo 1 besides take X halogen and replace it with this OH group or making double/triple bonds.
I did "meh" in ochem 2--but became an ochem pro for the MCAT (which unfortunately I had ONE Gringard reaction on my actual). I think the above poster is correct. Spend time learing the reaction "trends" rather than memorizing individual reactions (when possible). If you end up with a question you don't know the answer to, you can usually fake your way to a correct-ish answer.
Orgo 2 = mechanisms, synthesis and introduction to families (ethers, esters, organo-metallics, etc)
Orgo 3 = Continuation of orgo 2 (more families/famous mechanisms)
The biggest difficulty jump by far was from ochem 1 to 2. There is an adjustment period I think when learning to do step-wise synthesis problems. You really didn't get much of it in orgo 1 besides take X halogen and replace it with this OH group or making double/triple bonds.
I did "meh" in ochem 2--but became an ochem pro for the MCAT (which unfortunately I had ONE Gringard reaction on my actual). I think the above poster is correct. Spend time learing the reaction "trends" rather than memorizing individual reactions (when possible). If you end up with a question you don't know the answer to, you can usually fake your way to a correct-ish answer.
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If you are good at understanding electron flow and mechanisms then organic 2 will be much easier for you. Although there are a bunch of reactions that you'll need to just memorize, it really isn't that bad. Just don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed and take each chapter as it is. NMR can get a bit hairy when it comes to complicated spectra, but it is usually pretty easy on the MCAT.
D
deleted393595
I thought 2 was harder. I breezed through 1 since just knowing how certain reactions worked helped me remember all the various reactions (SN's, E's, and Addition) without much effort, but 2 was a lot harder towards the end and especially for Carboxy and Nitro chemistry since my textbook really didn't explain the mechanisms really well. It just listed them out and was like, "Yo bro! Just memorize this junk!"
1, you learn the alphabet and how to pronounce some words.
2, you begin to write sentences and construct paragraphs.
...or something like that.
I thought 2 was easier only because I found memorizing mechanisms and synthesis easier than some of the stereochemistry BS that was emphasized in 1 at my school. Oh, and not to mention that spectroscopy **** in 1 was just awful. None of that in 2.
2, you begin to write sentences and construct paragraphs.
...or something like that.
I thought 2 was easier only because I found memorizing mechanisms and synthesis easier than some of the stereochemistry BS that was emphasized in 1 at my school. Oh, and not to mention that spectroscopy **** in 1 was just awful. None of that in 2.
Orgo 2 is a lot more mechanism-based. I found it to be really random and required more reliance on brute memorization than Orgo 1. Orgo 1 is mostly learning the basics of how mechanisms works, types of reactions, etc. But for both semesters, if you put in the time and do a buttload of practice problems you should be fine.
4
487806
That's a good analogy.
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2 was harder for me but that's also when I finally understood how ochem works. There are alot more synthesis problems to memorize, mechanisms to understand, and concepts to learn. Hopefully you found a good way in ochem 1 to study effectively for ochem 2. Do lots of hw problems even though I hated them, and just get as much exposure to ochem as possible.
