O-Chem Synthesis Question

[deleted92121]

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I have been doing well with most of my O-Chem but am getting hung up on retroactive sythesis. I can look at the product and know what it is but cannot always grasp how it got there using what reagents. Any tips for better dealing with this particular topic?

thanks

 

[theseeker4]

I have been doing well with most of my O-Chem but am getting hung up on retroactive sythesis. I can look at the product and know what it is but cannot always grasp how it got there using what reagents. Any tips for better dealing with this particular topic?

thanks

Start concentrating on the products of the reactions, since you know the reactions themselves already. Remember not just what is reacted and what the mechanism is, but memorize what the products look like. If you know this, you should be able to say "OK, that is a halogenated alkane, it could be the product of reaction X, Y or Z..."

 

[MedPR]

I have been doing well with most of my O-Chem but am getting hung up on retroactive sythesis. I can look at the product and know what it is but cannot always grasp how it got there using what reagents. Any tips for better dealing with this particular topic?

thanks

It's a different thought process that you need to practice. Obviously you also need to know the reactants, mechanisms, and products of other reactions as well, or you will never be able to do a retroactive synthesis problem.

For mcat, I think almost every one of these questions will involve a simple sn1/sn2/e1/e2 mechanism. Nothing complicated as long as you can identify the active site(s) and not get distracted by all the irrelevant parts of the molecule.