Obscure Science topics on the MCAT, do you study them?

[artaxerxes]

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Do any of you guys know or study the following topics?

Saponification-Ester hydroylsis under basic conditions to form HO-R and R-COO- Na+ salt

Hofmann Degredation-R-CO-NH2-->R-NH2 NaOH/Br2 reagent

Pinacol rearrangement- akly migration to adjacent carbocation

Amine Hydrolysis ??

Wolff Kishner recation- R-HC=O-->R-HC=C

Haloform reaction ??

Wittig Reaction- w/ylide

Tosylate and Inorganic esters--?? they are good leaving groups for SN2, thats all I know

Carbonyl and alcohol protecting- is this with hemi and full acetals?

bicyclic alkanes-naming?

 

[majik1213]

yes to all .. wittig reaction especially important to kno that it is specific to esters but not ketones (or is it ketones but not esters?) either way, I remember seeing an AAMC problem that directly tested my knowledge of the proper Wittig reagent.

 

[Green Pirate]

are those all orgo rxns? (I'm curious because they all seem foreign to me--I'm hoping it's because I have not taken orgo yet)

 

[mms2k7]

Do any of you guys know or study the following topics?

Saponification-Ester hydroylsis under basic conditions to form HO-R and R-COO- Na+ salt

Hofmann Degredation-R-CO-NH2-->R-NH2 NaOH/Br2 reagent

Pinacol rearrangement- akly migration to adjacent carbocation

Amine Hydrolysis ??

Wolff Kishner recation- R-HC=O-->R-HC=C

Haloform reaction ??

Wittig Reaction- w/ylide

Tosylate and Inorganic esters--?? they are good leaving groups for SN2, thats all I know

Carbonyl and alcohol protecting- is this with hemi and full acetals?

bicyclic alkanes-naming?

Alot of those aren't as obscure as you think...some of those reactions are a chapters material in a book..Wittig is important, Amine hydrolysis, saponification because it has alot of crossovers (not just orgo),

the thing with orgo is, you need to look for similarities, because if you try to memorize each reaction and method, you will murder yourself.

You can pretty much figure out the general reaction on an exam--just by looking at the figures (atleast I have been able to). Its better to know why something happens in a reaction, that to just know it happens--you will not only remember it better, but be able to apply it consistently to other topic within orgo.

 

[Hindiana_Jones]

Yeah, those are all important reactions covered in Orgo II... In the 5th edition of EK orgo there are flashcards for all those rxns, and Kaplan covers all of the above reactions in their course as well.

 

[heymanooh1]

Traxler-Zimmerman aldol condensation
Mitsonobu rx
Knoevenagel condensation
Corey-Posner, Whitesides-House rx
Mannich rx
Hell-Volhard-Zelinski rx
Hunsdieker rx
Sandmeyer rxs

Yes, I remember that all that crap 😡

 

[BrokenGlass]

Traxler-Zimmerman aldol condensation
Mitsonobu rx
Knoevenagel condensation
Corey-Posner, Whitesides-House rx
Mannich rx
Hell-Volhard-Zelinski rx
Hunsdieker rx
Sandmeyer rxs

Yes, I remember that all that crap 😡

Yeah, these are classics. I would not be surprised if all of them came up in the same passage, perhaps even in a single discrete. Definitely a MUST KNOW!!!!!

 

[artaxerxes]

can any explain the haloform reaction?

 

[apricotattack]

Do any of you guys know or study the following topics?

Saponification-Ester hydroylsis under basic conditions to form HO-R and R-COO- Na+ salt

Hofmann Degredation-R-CO-NH2-->R-NH2 NaOH/Br2 reagent

Pinacol rearrangement- akly migration to adjacent carbocation

Amine Hydrolysis ??

Wolff Kishner recation- R-HC=O-->R-HC=C

Haloform reaction ??

Wittig Reaction- w/ylide

Tosylate and Inorganic esters--?? they are good leaving groups for SN2, thats all I know

Carbonyl and alcohol protecting- is this with hemi and full acetals?

bicyclic alkanes-naming?

Yes, except bicyclic alkane naming. That's just messy. The rest are pretty important.

 

[ModerateMouse]

Its better to know why something happens in a reaction, that to just know it happens--you will not only remember it better, but be able to apply it consistently to other topic within orgo.

(emphasis is mine)

I found this thread while searching for something, and felt compelled to bring it back.

I really would like to agree with you (with all my heart), but I think that in many cases you are wrong.

For example, how would you know "why" the Wittig reaction occurs?

Sure, the first step is a nucleophilic attack. That's understandable.

But what about the next step? Sadly, it comes down to memorization.

 

[Silverfalcon]

If you have a strong intuition in Organic Chemistry and understanding about LGs, then you shouldn't really need to memorize ALL the rxns. Plus, in the passage, they will have some info to help you out.

I would look into them (and to do that, use Google), but I wouldn't stress over them too much and try to get the idea first.

 

[bball]

Traxler-Zimmerman aldol condensation
Mitsonobu rx
Knoevenagel condensation
Corey-Posner, Whitesides-House rx
Mannich rx
Hell-Volhard-Zelinski rx
Hunsdieker rx
Sandmeyer rxs

Yes, I remember that all that crap 😡

The only ones important might be HVZ and Sandmeyer.

 

[AlexB]

you better know saponification

 

[Ahhdumb]

can any explain the haloform reaction?

If you apply any strong base to a compound containing a methyl ketone ( O=C-CH3) it will cleave off the ketone and leave you with a O=C-O- salt, or O=C-OH if protons are added