Orgo 2

[necta]

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[Deepa100]

Hey all,
I'm taking Orgo 2 as a summer class, and am feeling a little overwhelmed. Bombed the first exam, talked to the prof and got some minor suggestions. However. Anyone have any suggestions for learning ALL the reactions? Any study tips? How did you do it? How much time do you spend and how do you space it? Do I have any more question??? 😀 Thanks!

In my experience, it really depended on the professor. I worked my butt off in ORGO I but only got an A-. The prof used a scale to grade and did not curve. Had he used a curve, I would've definitely gotten an A.

Ochem II on the otherhand, was so easy! I never studied much for it. Still got an A.

So, my suggestion would be to understand the professor's style. Ochem II is more memorization than Ochem I though.

 

[zed350]

Hey all,
I'm taking Orgo 2 as a summer class, and am feeling a little overwhelmed. Bombed the first exam, talked to the prof and got some minor suggestions. However. Anyone have any suggestions for learning ALL the reactions? Any study tips? How did you do it? How much time do you spend and how do you space it? Do I have any more question??? 😀 Thanks!

Well I am taking OChem 2 over this summer too and i can totally understand where you come from, but I would really suggest against memorizing. If you are having problems it is basically due to lack of understanding of concepts in Ochem 1, as OChem 2 basically builds upon that. Try visiting SN, E, nucleophiles, electrophiles again..it would really help you out.

I got a couple of colorful reaction tables from a friend of mine, which are OK to review only (you are not going to learn anything from it).You can buy it from these guys.. i guess its like 5-6 bucks each

http://www.scienceaide.com/reactiontable1.php

Hope it helps ! 👍

 

[whatintheworld?]

Try visiting SN, E, nucleophiles, electrophiles again..it would really help you out.

I second this. 👍

Also to help with the memorization of rxns, I wrote my own notes combining both explanations from the book and from the prof's notes. Writing out the basic rxn with rxn mechanisms, then more detailed examples of the rxn, and then carrying around those notes stapled together and reading over them in spare moments during the day helped me. Writing things out really helps me alot. It all depends on your learning style though.

 

[GoSouthernGo]

What REALLY helped with understanding reaction mechanisms was learning the ins and outs of Lewis acids/bases and acidity/basicity of different parts of molecules. That and electron movement such as donating/withdrawing groups and how electrons affect acidity/basicity.

I didn't memorize per se every possible reaction mechanism, just parents reactions and when given a problem i was able to work through it logically.

I got a B in Orgo I and an A in Orgo II. Orgo II was much more fun for me as far as content and lab.

 

[ShyRem]

I also don't recommend memorizing reactions. Know your nucleophiles, electrophiles, and be able to push electrons around. If you need help with moving electrons around, there is a book I've heard is really good: Pushing Electrons.

 

[MSTPbound]

I agree with everyone above who says that Orgo II rxn mechanism mastery depends directly on your mastery of Orgo I concepts.

Klein's Orgo II as a Second Language was also very helpful to me during my Orgo II summer course. I think he outlines a scheme to the tune of the following:

All reaction mechanisms are essentially some variant on one, or any combination of the following four processes-

-Leaving group leaves
-Nucleophile attacks
-Proton hops on or off
-Rearrangement

Seeing rxn mechanisms this way really helped me in mechanism mastery, retrosynthetic analysis and prediction of products for a given reaction - it significantly reduced any "real" memorizing to a few essential concepts and reagents.

Good !

-MSTPbound