Organic studying

[MarieAn]

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Hello everyone,

I am having difficulty dealing with and memorizing mechanisms and products for reactions of groups. I actually intend to mix up and forget, any advice?🙁

 

[Rabolisk]

What you need to know is nucleophile, electrophile, and leaving group. The other reactions like oxidation/reduction and combustion (also a form of oxidation) are easy and don't require mechanisms. Once you know the basics, you can learn each individual case. Once you develop an intuition for organic reactions, you'll see that most are easy.

 

[attixx]

What Rabo said.

Although it wouldn't hurt to have every single mechanism memorized, I don't think it's necessary to devote the mental space. Learn the basics. Learn the acid-catalyzation step in a carboxylic acid/derivitive reaction, for example. Know the interplay between electrons and charges, that kind of thing. For the most part, the MCAT will give you a lot of information to work with on organic passages that you can utilized with a good foundation of basic concepts.

 

[TTigers70]

Become one with the electron. Think, if you were an electron where would you want to go? haha jk but I have never been an advocate for memorizing organic chemistry. Rather, if you approach it with the right vigor and try to understand why stuff happens, the rest will all fall into place. With a solid foundation (organic chem I) the more advanced reactions (orgo II) will almost be intuitive. From your phrasing OP I imagine you already took orgo / are taking it now? What everyone else has said about MCAT specifics is on point. I will say that knowing what a Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation (etc) was off the top of my head helped in certain instances. I never memorized any rxns, rather put associated names together when I was working through problems