Is Organic II tougher than Organic I?

[Transposon]

Do people's grades in Organic usually go downward in the second semester or stay the same? Is it a lot tougher than Organic I? Perhaps easier?! I'm planning on taking Advanced Organic chemistry soon and I'd like to be on that level sometime...

thanks...

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[grunermann]

Personally, I would say that it is harder. Most likely, it will be the first time that you have to apply reactions to do synthesis problems. Likewise, NMR, IR, and Mass spec problems are either really easy or really hard for people. Just make sure you get it.

 

[Loki]

Originally posted by ligand:
•Do people's grades in Organic usually go downward in the second semester or stay the same? Is it a lot tougher than Organic I? Perhaps easier?! I'm planning on taking Advanced Organic chemistry soon and I'd like to be on that level sometime...

thanks...•••

I thought II was harder, but that is only because I did not get the reactions/preparations down in I. So I kinda had to repeat some work in I.

II, however is more interesting (I can't believe I just typed that)

 

[Jamier2]

Originally posted by Loki:
•II, however is more interesting (I can't believe I just typed that)•••

I can. I thought I was exceedingly boring, while in II you could learn why things happened and predict things you had never seen. I never predicted anything in I (we only brushed over the Sn1 and Sn2 stuff). I guess I liked that you didn't spend all your time memorizing.

As for the original question, I'd say it goes both ways. Some people who didn't do well at all in I got scared and did well in II. I'd guess that more people went down in grades than up though.

 

[vixen]

I had to put in more work to keep the same grade for organic II. I thought organic I was fun...all the stereochem...organic two isn't that bad...

ps. if you want to know which chem I hate the most...definitely biochem

 

[Coalboy]

I particularly enjoyed the stuff in Orgo II about ortho,para versus meta directors when adding to benzene rings. I did think II was harder, but I was also a bit busier with other stuff, so that might have had something to do with it. We did synthesis problems in both semesters.

 

[italianlove]

Hey ligand,

Generally, II is harder 'cause there is much more theory involved (NMR, IR, o-p-m-benzene rings) but many people who did well in I do BETTER in II (even though it is more difficult) because they have a solid foundation and know how to study. If you did well in I, then II should be very do-able, and yes, it is more interesting (more applicable to living systems). Take care and good luck next semester!

 

[FSUMED]

It depends on your strengths. II requires more wrote memorization than understanding concepts IMHO. I did better with concepts in I...I still got an A in both, but worked much harder in II

 

[Doctortobee]

My Organic class seems to be structured differently. The first semester we learned everything (mechs, synthesis, properties) about alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics, and alcohols. Next semester we study Ketones, etc...

 

[racergirl]

Originally posted by FSUMED:
•It depends on your strengths. II requires more wrote memorization than understanding concepts IMHO. I did better with concepts in I...I still got an A in both, but worked much harder in II•••

I disagree. I think II is much more conceptual. After, most of Ochem is like six different reactions--you just mix up the order. If you get the basic concepts down, you don't have to memorize too much.

 

[A. Caveman]

I agree with racergirl about org II.
although you can memorize everything by repetition, it's better to conceptualize and understand what's going on in a reaction. that way you can apply it when presented with a novel reaction. but i think this is a VERY corny thread. for the record, I was more fun, II was more work. this topic bites.

 

[Firebird]

Originally posted by grunermann:
•Personally, I would say that it is harder. Most likely, it will be the first time that you have to apply reactions to do synthesis problems•••

Oh how I wish that were true. In Organic I, I got a total of one (1) point out of all the synthesis problems we had. Our instructor did two examples of synthesis in class the entire semester...and that was it. In fact, he never posed problems in class that might be similar to a test question.

Our Organic is structured much differently than most, I think. We learn the reactions by type of reaction, instead of by type of molecule. We learned all of SN1 and SN2 at the same time, instead of showing all the sub, elim, addition, etc. for, say, alkyl halides.

 

[E'01]

our professor LOVED Frontier molecular orbital theory (I think that's what it was called)-. My goodness, on every single exam it was a guaranteed question. He never told us the usefulness of knowing it until the very end and the whole class was like "Ohhhhhhhh now it makes sense". As for which segment was hardest? Goodness the whole lot was, but I'd have to synthesis was the toughest since the prof kind of stuck it in at the end and expected us to get it just like that. Before exams were handed out, we were always praised for our great sense of creativity in synthesizing compounds