How did you/do you well in Organic Chemistry II?

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xXIDaShizIXx

xXIDaShizIXx

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So I was wondering, what did you do to give yourself a good grade in the second semester of organic chemistry? What needs just plain memorization? What needs practice? What were your study habits and how did they help? I was just wondering. Thanks for any advice! 😀
 
Get 'Organic Chemistry as a Second Language'. Without that book I would have failed.
 
xXIDaShizIXx said:
So I was wondering, what did you do to give yourself a good grade in the second semester of organic chemistry? What needs just plain memorization? What needs practice? What were your study habits and how did they help? I was just wondering. Thanks for any advice! 😀
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If you did well in Orgo 1 and understood the concepts..just do the same thing for Orgo 2. Orgo 2 def has more memorization but just do practice problems.

If you have a good understanding of Sn1 and 2 and E1 and 2 reactions then u should be fine. PRACTICE PROBLEMS ..all of them!
 
gmcguitar4 said:
If you did well in Orgo 1 and understood the concepts..just do the same thing for Orgo 2. Orgo 2 def has more memorization but just do practice problems.

If you have a good understanding of Sn1 and 2 and E1 and 2 reactions then u should be fine. PRACTICE PROBLEMS ..all of them!
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Well I understand the mechanisms pretty well (I made an A in orgo I), but the different measurement tools (UV, IR, NMR, and MS) they tend to confuse me. Not to mention that is what the first exam covers.
 
It is all about practice practice practice! do more problems, you can't memorize, it is a concept based class with high variability in terms of problems. PRACTICE PROBLEMS!!! B/B here in ochem 1 and 2
 
Practice problems in Orgo II mostly. Idk, I had a B in orgo I but learned a lot. Orgo II felt like the same mechanism 10 million times so I was mostly sleepwalking through that class and got an A.

For the spectroscopy I always asked "why does this occur" and "what chemical phenomenon is resulting in this spectra" to get the answers. That is all practice though.
 
Get a white board. Write out everything: mechanisms, synthesis problems, etc. Erase and repeat until I closed my eyes at night and saw bright colored C's with dots, lines, and arrows.
 
Got an A in Orgo I after my first tests being low C's. Next test was a 96% and the ACS final I got a 300/300. (graded out of 60 though)
I would say the best thing to do is memorize the concepts as much as possible then drill with practice problems for each concept until you can get around 10 right in a row. Flashcards are a waste of time. Also, actually know how the mechanism is working and make a table of reactants/reagents/solvents so you know which is doing which.
For synthesis problems, make sure you are a complete master at SN and E mechanisms while knowing a good amount from the table you need to make.
GL.
 
Thanks for all of the answers so far guys! 😀 How bad is the ACS exam exactly? Any tips for mass spectrometry and IR? I do use a whiteboard, most of the time I just use paper though.
 
xXIDaShizIXx said:
Thanks for all of the answers so far guys! 😀 How bad is the ACS exam exactly? Any tips for mass spectrometry and IR? I do use a whiteboard, most of the time I just use paper though.
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Ridiculously easy.
Much more easier than my professor's exams, which the average and mean which where a 45 and 43 respectively.
 
xXIDaShizIXx said:
Thanks for all of the answers so far guys! 😀 How bad is the ACS exam exactly? Any tips for mass spectrometry and IR? I do use a whiteboard, most of the time I just use paper though.
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I doubt you will cover mass spectromety. It's usually IR and NMR spectroscopy.
 
JohnnyRomanes said:
Ridiculously easy.
Much more easier than my professor's exams, which the average and mean which where a 45 and 43 respectively.
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Sweet, she gives us 145 points for the test (Like 1.3 of a test) for the ACS exam and every last point counts!😀
 
Kadava Reviva said:
I doubt you will cover mass spectromety. It's usually IR and NMR spectroscopy.
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I got 2 questions on Mass Spec. but the concept of it is easy to understand, unlike some of the more beast problems on NMR.
 
Do those mechanisms over and over until you feel like you're going to drop dead.
 
Understand the reactions and then with that you'll memorize them. That's how I got my A in Orgo 2
 
JohnnyRomanes said:
I got 2 questions on Mass Spec. but the concept of it is easy to understand, unlike some of the more beast problems on NMR.
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Really? I only saw mass spectrometry in physics. Is it fairly common in modern in orgo, or is it just in a few select schools?
 
Kadava Reviva said:
Really? I only saw mass spectrometry in physics. Is it fairly common in modern in orgo, or is it just in a few select schools?
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Here at Cornell, we covered mass spectrometry in Ochem I
 
orgo 2 was easier for me than orgo 1...

just make a chart for each functional group that has properties and reactions it can undergo (and the conditions/mechanisms of these reactions, of course)
 
RandomHero117 said:
orgo 2 was easier for me than orgo 1...

just make a chart for each functional group that has properties and reactions it can undergo (and the conditions/mechanisms of these reactions, of course)
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Would you say that helps significantly? Like any tips for exams?
 
Do all the practice problems in your book and you will have an A.

Organic Chemistry as a second language is too concise. I personally dont like it
 
I had A+ Orgo I and A in Orgo II. For both classes, I memorized lecture notes until I could literally draw every word, sentence and structure from the notes without looking or stopping, did every single practice problem suggested and read the book to supplement lectures. It worked quite well despite the time-consuming nature.
 
KLycos said:
It is all about practice practice practice! do more problems, you can't memorize, it is a concept based class with high variability in terms of problems. PRACTICE PROBLEMS!!!
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This. Do as many practice problems as you can. The more you do, the better you can get a feel for how certain reactants/reagents usually interact.
 
xXIDaShizIXx said:
Would you say that helps significantly? Like any tips for exams?
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I guess that depends on how your exams are structured. My exams were mainly reaction based so I spent most of my time reviewing practice problems. A lot of people tend to get intimidated because they are confused when working practice problems and end up missing most of them. The key to doing well is not getting discouraged by missing a bunch of practice problems. You're going to screw up a bunch of problems before you learn to work them correctly. When you review practice problems, ask yourself to identify the underlying principle/rule/mechanism/whatever being applied and make sure you understand and memorize that. I like to think about different ways my teacher might ask a similar question to the ones on the practice tests or what other starting compounds, reagents, or catalysts would've worked.

So basically:
1) read your book and notes as best you can
2) work practice problems
3) review practice problems
4) created condensed notes to study from (this helps A LOT )
5) memorize the most important parts, utilize the principles of logic, and hope for the best on your exam 👍
 
JohnnyRomanes said:
Ridiculously easy.
Much more easier than my professor's exams, which the average and mean which where a 45 and 43 respectively.
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Ha, nice bro.

As you probably know from Organic I there's a good amount of information. Put work in erryday and you should be good.
As far as the specs go... IR is straight memorization. Mass spec, HNMR and CNMR require a bit more conceptual understanding. We did a good bit of lab work using all the instrumental tools during Organic II and that helped me significantly. If you can't get after it in the lab, get it in the books.
 
i'm good at manipulating things in my head so i can picture reaction mechanisms and do think of a molecule in 3d with the changes that are happening. i also studied a lot and spent a lot of time with memorization
 
Frazier said:
Similar outcome, but I pretty much only worked and reworked problems from the hw sets/textbook ad nausem in a daily routine.
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A+ in Orgo I, will see how Orgo II goes this coming semester. I used a similar method, but I would do every problem once, and then find someone and help them study for the exam (thus hitting my weak spots in the process).
 
Now that you guys help refresh my memory, I think I vaguely remember seeing a mass spectrometry question on an orgo exam. It was a loooooooooong time ago, though.
 
I was very fortunate to have an exceptional professor, however i didnt just go to class and take tests. I worked on problems like none other. What i found to be helpful was don't delay on practicing what you just learned in class because soon enough everything will mesh together it seems. (happened to me) To combat that I just did tons of problems within a week of learning the concepts and what helped me understand what i was doing was going through mechanisms if not on paper in my head.

As for experimental stuff like mass spec/ir/nmr stuff, hopefully you do some lab stuff. we did a lab where we had to determine what 20 different compounds were based on mass spec/ir/nmr(H and C).
 
Review lecture notes after every lecture and BEFORE the next lecture. Do all of the assigned practice problems.

Got A/A/A here for the ochem series.
 
Bl4ckout said:
repetition, repetition, repetition.
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I agree to a point, but doing problems without understanding what is going on is a waste of time.

For orgo, there are some key concepts that if you don't have your are screwed.
They are:
Nucleophilicity/Electrophilicity
Acid base chemistry (you need to memorize about 10 pKa's)
Resonance (this is a big one)
Reactive intermediate stablization

Once you understand these concepts, start drawing mechanisms for 5 the five basic reactions. (Free radical halogenation, SN1, SN2, E1,E2)
Apply the aforementioned principles to each step of the mechanisms and this will give you a great foundation. Look and think about what happens at each step.

Reactions of alcohols, alkynes, and alkenes are so much easier when you understand these concepts. You will have to memorize less than you would if you just practiced through "repitition."

You wouldn't believe how many kids I've tutored who can't draw a resonance structure. Do not be afraid or think you are wasting your time if you are in orgo 2 and you have to go back and relearn these key concepts. If you do this correctly, you'll save so much memorization in the long run. Electron drawing and donating groups can mostly be explained by resonance, as well as reactions with benzene's
Nothing tests your knowledge of reactions better than synthesis problems. Do as many as you can, then make up your own molecules and try to synthesize them. After you finish the amine chapter, a great way to practice synthesizing is to find structures for drugs and try to synth them. Look up structures on Wikipedia. It kinda makes it fun.

For NMR and IR, learn the key principles that make up each spectra. Look up the structure of molecules and draw what you think their spectra looks like. Check your spectra against the real spectra here: http://riodb01.ibase.aist.go.jp/sdbs/cgi-bin/direct_frame_top.cgi
See if your spectra matches the real one and think about errors that you made. Do this "repetetivly."
In other words, make repitition count. If you think more, you'll have to practice less.
Good Luck
 
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Celerity said:
You wouldn't believe how many kids I've tutored who can't draw a resonance structure. Do not be afraid or think you are wasting your time if you are in orgo 2 and you have to go back and relearn these key concepts. If you do this correctly, you'll save so much memorization in the long run. Electron drawing and donating groups can mostly be explained by resonance, as well as reactions with benzene's
ount. If you think more, you'll have to practice less.
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resonance is great for biochem too 😀
 
I'm in orgo 2 currently. My teacher said orgo 2 is easier because there isn't anything new except for NMR. You have same mechanisms but new reactions to tackle synthesis problems. On the other hand, I can see this class being torture if you struggled to learn the basics (substitutions, eliminations and additions etc) in orgo 1.
 
Celerity said:
Do as many as you can, then make up your own molecules and try to synthesize them.
Good Luck
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I did this is Orgo 1 after I thought I fully understood the concepts. It helped me so much. A friend and I would start with a substrate and write out some ridiculous product and see if there were any number of mechanisms that we could use to actually create it (sometimes we were using 7 or 8 different reagents for a problem). Although these products were probably impossible to synthesize in real life, it gave us alot of practice in identifying what would need to happen in order for such a molecule to exist. This way, we could test our knowledge of different mechanisms and reactions all in one problem, all at the same time, while keeping in mind that certain reagents react with substrates differently depending on solvent, steric hindrance etc. etc.
 
anyone have any experience with this book - "arrow-pushing in organic chemistry" ??
 
Darn, why can't Med schools give an A+ a numeric value higher than a regular A. 🙁
 
My orgo teacher was really old school. He would just lecture and write on the board once in a while. You basically just had to listen closely and take notes. It was pretty rough.
 
El Nino said:
I'm in orgo 2 currently. My teacher said orgo 2 is easier because there isn't anything new except for NMR. You have same mechanisms but new reactions to tackle synthesis problems. On the other hand, I can see this class being torture if you struggled to learn the basics (substitutions, eliminations and additions etc) in orgo 1.
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We did NMR in the first part. Hmmm. My school's system sucks apparently.
 
MIAYO said:
My orgo teacher was really old school. He would just lecture and write on the board once in a while. You basically just had to listen closely and take notes. It was pretty rough.
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We have to pretty much learn the stuff from the textbook. And this wonderful teacher likes to use old editions that have errors. I swear the class wouldn't be nearly as difficult.
 
I ended up with a C- on my first attempt. One year later, I retook it and earned a B, as a C- was not adequate to stay in my major.

Organic Chemistry II was probably the worst class of my entire life. Ironically, there was a surprisingly large amount of organic on the biological sciences section of the MCAT exam I took, and it ended up being my best section by far.

Maybe struggling with organic for all those years finally paid off. It didn't keep me out of med school.
 
Maxwell7301 said:
I ended up with a C- on my first attempt. One year later, I retook it and earned a B, as a C- was not adequate to stay in my major.

Organic Chemistry II was probably the worst class of my entire life. Ironically, there was a surprisingly large amount of organic on the biological sciences section of the MCAT exam I took, and it ended up being my best section by far.

Maybe struggling with organic for all those years finally paid off. It didn't keep me out of med school.
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Thanks! That's inspiring to hear things like that!🙂
 
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