Organic Chemistry Road Maps

[Ashley1989]

Hey Everyone so I'm finishing up Organic Chemistry III right now and my professor suggests that we make OChem road maps (something I've never done before). I've been trying to create my own and it's taking hours and I'm starting to feel like its a waste of time but I'm not sure. I'm wondering if anyone here used this tool and if they found it helpful or not. We are going over Aldol rxns, Claisen, Diels-Alder etc.

Mechanisms and retro synthesis have always been my demise. Any suggestions?

Ash

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[bunionberry]

http://iverson.cm.utexas.edu/courses/310N/MainPagesSp06/Roadmaps.html

EDIT: Forgot to mention, yes they are helpful if you put time into them. They're not easy at first because you have to revisit many different reactions but once you get them all down, synthesis/retro-synthesis problems become a breeze. When I was in organic, I didn't make a roadmap. I just used one that my friend gave me. For some people, it's useful to actually make the map. I found it just fine to look at someone else's for the sake of knowing which reactions could lead to what.

 

[Ashley1989]

Thanks also, did you find that reading the entire chapter or doing more problems was most helpful?

 

[aesculapian]

Reaction maps were what got me through Orgo. They do take a lot of time to make but they're well worth it because you have a nice overview of how different compounds can be made through various pathways. I thought a map helped me see a lot of connections between compounds, which is definitely useful when you're doing synthesis problems.

 

[aesculapian]

Also, do problems. Like, all of them.

 

[iforget2]

http://anslyn.cm.utexas.edu/courses/ch320n/Handouts_files/roadmaps.pdf

You're welcome

 

[pepes1lv1a]

Also, do problems. Like, all of them.

This. Fuark the road maps. I just made a metric ass load of flash cards, and once I was used to those, did problem after problem after problem. You gotta study for the class you're in, so find out what the tests are going to be like, and do those problems without looking at anything.

Took me until the second time around, but I just got my A in orgo 2