Orgo is killing me!

[Ellabelle]

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Orgo is my weakest subject! I've done Chad's videos and I'm halfway through Destroyer but it just doesn't click! I have the test in 2 weeks and I'm losing my mind. Any suggestions?

 

[aznriptide859]

Any particular concept you're not getting?

My orgo professor said this at the beginning of the semester of Orgo I: Orgo is pretty much 99.9% about electrons. If you understand valence electrons and their theories/tendencies, then you can ace orgo.

Which is true if you think about it - everything orgo related has something to do with bonds, electronegativity, and tendency of reactions, all which deal with electrons. So if you go back and nail down the fundamentals of electrons, then eventually the concepts and their bases will click together. At least that's how I see it.

 

[Koalafied]

Any particular concept you're not getting?

My orgo professor said this at the beginning of the semester of Orgo I: Orgo is pretty much 99.9% about electrons. If you understand valence electrons and their theories/tendencies, then you can ace orgo.

Which is true if you think about it - everything orgo related has something to do with bonds, electronegativity, and tendency of reactions, all which deal with electrons. So if you go back and nail down the fundamentals of electrons, then eventually the concepts and their bases will click together. At least that's how I see it.

Yup. Your prof. knows what he/she's talking about. If you've paid attention in lecture and practiced, then this section is really easy.

OP, if you need a concept refresher, I'll grant you 2 wishes.🙂

 

[eggiweggi]

I struggled in orgo too and organic chemistry odyssey really helped me. The book is expensive though. I also found freelance videos to be really helpful, you can check out his videos for specific topics you're struggling on. They're free you just google freelance teacher orgo or something like that

 

[aznriptide859]

Yup. Your prof. knows what he/she's talking about. If you've paid attention in lecture and practiced, then this section is really easy.

OP, if you need a concept refresher, I'll grant you 2 wishes.🙂

Orgo really requires a TON of practice; most of my course midterms comprised of mechanisms and synthesis, so memorization and application of reactions was absolutely crucial. I remember for my Orgo I final I went through an entire 100-page notepad doing nothing but practice problems 0_0.

 

[DagS132]

I struggled in orgo too and organic chemistry odyssey really helped me. The book is expensive though. I also found freelance videos to be really helpful, you can check out his videos for specific topics you're struggling on. They're free you just google freelance teacher orgo or something like that

Freelance has saved me so much money. His videos are slow but they make sure you get the concept down so well.

 

[Koalafied]

Orgo really requires a TON of practice; most of my course midterms comprised of mechanisms and synthesis, so memorization👎 and application👍 of reactions was absolutely crucial. I remember for my Orgo I final I went through an entire 100-page notepad doing nothing but practice problems 0_0.

I know. I did not memorize. I provided supplemental instruction.🙂

 

[Dotoday]

Try reading Organic chemistry as a second language book, by David Klein. That will simplify some concepts before you do yhe Destroyer.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[aznriptide859]

I know. I did not memorize. I provided supplemental instruction.🙂

Fair enough haha, to each his/her own 🙂

EDIT: PC (so minor >.<)

 

[Koalafied]

Fair enough haha, to each his own 🙂

PC. You're new8. I'll just let this one go.

OP, like I said earlier: 2 wishes.🙂

 

[aznnytezx]

Some basics in order for you to ace organic.

1.) Know that an electrophile is electron deficient, with that being said. Look for any carbons perhaps attached to anything very electronegative, this will induce a huge polarity. Thus, giving the carbon a partial negative charge.

2.) Know your nucleophile (usually basic, know your trends), it will attack this partial negative charge carbon. Usually right after wards, it can possibly be protonated to refrain the negative charge or deprotonate to refrain the positive charge.

3.) If a leaving group is present, usually a great leaving group is whatever that can leaves on its own and becomes stable. This means something that is a weak base, it is stable because it is not reactive whenever it is on its own.

4.) If there is rearrangement possible, usually whenever any sp2 forms e.g. carbocation, then know that there can be an alkyl shift or a hydride shift. Alkyl shifts are only present whenever there are no hydrogens that can make it to a more stable carbocation. With that being said, know the stability of your carbocations.

If you have all these concepts down, just start memorizing reactions. It becomes easier whenever you start memorizing, because you are understanding as opposed to just pure memorization.

 

[bluemoon27]

I could try to help you so post a question. personally, most of the organic chem on destroyer was useless to me. it went in too much depth and was too hard and none of my questions compared so i wasted a lot of time on it. if anything, it actually confused me. i feel like your coming from a similar background as me, so it may help you if you follow my strategy. i got a 25 on this section on the real thing, so not making stuff up.

My DAT test questions were focused more on orgo 1. I would say of 8/30 questions were from orgo 2, the rest of 22 quests were all based on orgo 1.

i also did not spend time memorizing mechanisms for the DAT. just did problems so i ended up becoming good at the predicting the products. the 2 days before my test. I did all of chads quizz questions again and boy were they helpful!

a trick to help you: able to recognize electrophile and nucl by asking yourself the quesiton which thing is electron rich and which thing is electron poor, by analyzing if it has a partial charge and lone pairs. if it has extra lone pairs, it will be a nucleophile. that alone helped me tackle a rxn i couldnt remember on the actual thing. i asked myself which thing has electrons, which one doesnt. the rich one attacks the poor and a bond forms, viola! i did pretty well on the DAT despite doing poorly in orgo 1 and 2 (yes I even had to repeat orgo 2 after getting a D the first time), so its possible. use chads quizzes. they are exactly on par when it comes to difficulty of the real thing.

so for the DAT, I didnt spend any time learning mechanisms. Rather, I just did a heck ton of problems and memorized the rxn sheet that chad gives you. write them out on index cards if u have to. or make a long sheet u handwrote urself.

you may also have to watch some of Chads vids again. i actually realized i undersood some stuff i didnt give myself credit for but the second time around and i could answer his questions. it was awesome!

Since u have 2 weeks left, in my opinion, doing probs and knowing what I am about to tell you maybe your best bet. for concepts ur not good at, look them up in the book organic chem as a second language by klein.

at the very least, make sure u know how to count pi and sigma bonds (remember to not forget the hydrogens), hybridization (sp, sp2, sp3), resonance, bond angle for the different hybridization states, oxidation of alcohols to ketones and aldehydes and carbox acids, reduction reactions (esp the hydrogenation), chirality, naming, stereochem like E or Z R or S, being able to tell if two things are enantiomers or diastereomers or same, alkene rxns, alkyne rxns, grignard, wittig, recognizing functional groups, williamson ether synthesis, fisher esterification, electrophilic aromatic substitution, aldol, and radical reactions along with sn1 sn2 e1 e2. understand sn1 and sn2 ones effect of solvent, inversion or racemization, the type of halide needed, etc.
also memorize that mCPBA turn an alkene into an epoxide. remember tertiary alcohols dehydrate the fastest. be able to recognize which carbocation and radicals are the most stable. so allylic (meaning next to double bond) more stable. also 3>2>1>methyl. know how to use chads CARDIO pneumonic for understanding which is strong base and strong acid. know spectroscopy. mass spec, know separation and extraction techniques. i would say i had 4 questions falling into those 4 things above

while i cant guarantee this will get you a 25, I am telling you some of the big important things to know to help you maximize your score in the time frame you have.

check this site. this site has a lot of questions. explanations not there but u can at least check your answer. practice in the areas i told you above.

http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/Questions/problems/indexam.htm

do some questions in bootcamp as well. as soon as i remember anything i missed, i am updating my post, so keep checking back today.

i think i had a questions on sn2. i recognized it solely by the fact, oh hey, its acetone, and u saw a subsituttion with the inversion of configuration happening, so yup sn2. also know e1 and e2. also know spectroscopy and separation/extraction techniques. i think bootcamp has a good guide on the various lab techniques for orgo. just memorize it well and make sure u can recognize when to use it.


lastly, do yourrself a favor and buy the datbootcamp exams. super helpful for orgo. all the reactions presented there along with my advice on things to know from above should help you do well. i dont recommend destroyer for orgo now. destroyer was helpful though for gen chem.

chad is also excellent for gen chem, i did all of gchem quizzes the day before my test. he has good video solutions for those tricky questions with the ksp questions. excellent questions so make sure you do em all in the 2-3 days leading up to your test.

 

[Ellabelle]

My problem is mostly with predicting the products. I always get confused about which reagents act as nucleophiles, or sometimes there are more than one nucleophile, etc.
I tried memorizing them and it's been working...but slowly.
When you guys see a reaction, what else do you guys ask yourself (besides which one is the nucleophile/electrophile) before predicting the products?


Thank you so much for your amazing responses!

 

[Toadesque]

Some basics in order for you to ace organic.

1.) Know that an electrophile is electron deficient, with that being said. Look for any carbons perhaps attached to anything very electronegative, this will induce a huge polarity. Thus, giving the carbon a partial negative charge.

2.) Know your nucleophile (usually basic, know your trends), it will attack this partial negative charge carbon. Usually right after wards, it can possibly be protonated to refrain the negative charge or deprotonate to refrain the positive charge.

3.) If a leaving group is present, usually a great leaving group is whatever that can leaves on its own and becomes stable. This means something that is a weak base, it is stable because it is not reactive whenever it is on its own.

4.) If there is rearrangement possible, usually whenever any sp2 forms e.g. carbocation, then know that there can be an alkyl shift or a hydride shift. Alkyl shifts are only present whenever there are no hydrogens that can make it to a more stable carbocation. With that being said, know the stability of your carbocations.

If you have all these concepts down, just start memorizing reactions. It becomes easier whenever you start memorizing, because you are understanding as opposed to just pure memorization.

Chad drilled all these concepts into me and I still struggle with some reactions despite understanding the trends lol. I can look at a reaction and still be like, "Ok where the HELL did that come from"

 

[Koalafied]

My problem is mostly with predicting the products. I always get confused about which reagents act as nucleophiles, or sometimes there are more than one nucleophile, etc.
I tried memorizing them and it's been working...but slowly.
When you guys see a reaction, what else do you guys ask yourself (besides which one is the nucleophile/electrophile) before predicting the products?


Thank you so much for your amazing responses!

We must delve deeper into your psyche in order to alleviate your problems. How do you currently perceive organic chemistry/orgo?

 

[bluemoon27]

i try to think of the reagent and try to recall which rxn is does. sometimes that may help. also, i conquered orgo by being positive. going into it, i was like "i have to do this, i can do it, just need to practice, need to get into d-school this yr and this score is my ticket" was my attitude. it worked! the real test was not bad at all. i was actually repeating orgo 1 during the time I retook it and it was awesome this time around. i knew my stuff from chad so i made an A easily in the class and understood the stuff pretty well. plus I was exposed to it so many times a week so made it easier for the stuff to sink in.

you can do it! dont let your class grade define your knowledge of orgo on the DAT. the DAT is a whole another ball game! keep your head up! you got this. do practice probs. the more probs you do, things will begin to click! you could do problems in few chunks and then go over the answers. then do it again without using any aid. to make sure you actually drilled the concept into your head. thats what i did. then possibly do that again once or twice more. that will help to drill that reaction into your head. or that special trick or question you may have encountered, it may help! remember: your goal is to understand how to do the problems. if you can figure it out with 2 or 3 examples, then great! do 2 or 3 more probs to make sure you know what your doing. then move onto to the next topic. all of my friends told me that they had some type of hydrbidaztion question so even knowing something as basic as that can help you win crucial points on the test, so dont overlook it!

and plz def use my advise from the bold parts in top (im done editing it btw). really important you know those! best of luck to you!

oh one more thing. in the destroyer, there is a page in the orgo section listing out lab tests and stuff (i think around question 70 something), I would memorize that along with the lab techniques page on bootcamp. but otherwise, focus on learning the basics really well.

 

[Ellabelle]

I could try to help you so post a question. personally, most of the organic chem on destroyer was useless to me. it went in too much depth and was too hard and none of my questions compared so i wasted a lot of time on it. if anything, it actually confused me. i feel like your coming from a similar background as me, so it may help you if you follow my strategy. i got a 25 on this section on the real thing, so not making stuff up.

My DAT test questions were focused more on orgo 1. I would say of 8/30 questions were from orgo 2, the rest of 22 quests were all based on orgo 1.

i also did not spend time memorizing mechanisms for the DAT. just did problems so i ended up becoming good at the predicting the products. the 2 days before my test. I did all of chads quizz questions again and boy were they helpful!

a trick to help you: able to recognize electrophile and nucl by asking yourself the quesiton which thing is electron rich and which thing is electron poor, by analyzing if it has a partial charge and lone pairs. if it has extra lone pairs, it will be a nucleophile. that alone helped me tackle a rxn i couldnt remember on the actual thing. i asked myself which thing has electrons, which one doesnt. the rich one attacks the poor and a bond forms, viola! i did pretty well on the DAT despite doing poorly in orgo 1 and 2 (yes I even had to repeat orgo 2 after getting a D the first time), so its possible. use chads quizzes. they are exactly on par when it comes to difficulty of the real thing.

so for the DAT, I didnt spend any time learning mechanisms. Rather, I just did a heck ton of problems and memorized the rxn sheet that chad gives you. write them out on index cards if u have to. or make a long sheet u handwrote urself.

you may also have to watch some of Chads vids again. i actually realized i undersood some stuff i didnt give myself credit for but the second time around and i could answer his questions. it was awesome!

Since u have 2 weeks left, in my opinion, doing probs and knowing what I am about to tell you maybe your best bet. for concepts ur not good at, look them up in the book organic chem as a second language by klein.

at the very least, make sure u know how to count pi and sigma bonds (remember to not forget the hydrogens), hybridization (sp, sp2, sp3), resonance, bond angle for the different hybridization states, oxidation of alcohols to ketones and aldehydes and carbox acids, reduction reactions (esp the hydrogenation), chirality, naming, stereochem like E or Z R or S, being able to tell if two things are enantiomers or diastereomers or same, alkene rxns, alkyne rxns, grignard, wittig, recognizing functional groups, williamson ether synthesis, fisher esterification, electrophilic aromatic substitution, aldol, and radical reactions along with sn1 sn2 e1 e2. understand sn1 and sn2 ones effect of solvent, inversion or racemization, the type of halide needed, etc.
also memorize that mCPBA turn an alkene into an epoxide. remember tertiary alcohols dehydrate the fastest. be able to recognize which carbocation and radicals are the most stable. so allylic (meaning next to double bond) more stable. also 3>2>1>methyl. know how to use chads CARDIO pneumonic for understanding which is strong base and strong acid. know spectroscopy. mass spec, know separation and extraction techniques. i would say i had 4 questions falling into those 4 things above

while i cant guarantee this will get you a 25, I am telling you some of the big important things to know to help you maximize your score in the time frame you have.

check this site. this site has a lot of questions. explanations not there but u can at least check your answer. practice in the areas i told you above.

http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/virttxtjml/Questions/problems/indexam.htm

do some questions in bootcamp as well. as soon as i remember anything i missed, i am updating my post, so keep checking back today.

i think i had a questions on sn2. i recognized it solely by the fact, oh hey, its acetone, and u saw a subsituttion with the inversion of configuration happening, so yup sn2. also know e1 and e2. also know spectroscopy and separation/extraction techniques. i think bootcamp has a good guide on the various lab techniques for orgo. just memorize it well and make sure u can recognize when to use it.


lastly, do yourrself a favor and buy the datbootcamp exams. super helpful for orgo. all the reactions presented there along with my advice on things to know from above should help you do well. i dont recommend destroyer for orgo now. destroyer was helpful though for gen chem.

chad is also excellent for gen chem, i did all of gchem quizzes the day before my test. he has good video solutions for those tricky questions with the ksp questions. excellent questions so make sure you do em all in the 2-3 days leading up to your test.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help!

 

[Jordwin]

Wow bluemoon, very nicely done.