Question about the MCAT

[mac_kin]

I'm retaking the August MCAT but I can't remember from last year how heavy the organic chemistry was.

Would you guys recommend knowing the mechanisms for the reactions (well aside from knowing the difference between Sn1, Sn2 and the other famous examples)
or should I just focus on knowing the end product of the reaction?

Basically I was thinking of just studying A+B = C and not worrying about the details.

What's your opinion?

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[kevster2001]

If you're restudying, i would just do practice passages/tests , especially this lat ein the game. Get the EK book

 

[braluk]

know your classicaition of SN1 Sn2, etc, because ultimately that determines your end product. There are alos a few, predict the product problems that differs with the reaction mechanism (SN1, Sn2, all of whihc is depoendent on solvation, etc)

 

[Dr Durden]

They seem to be fond of testing mechanisms by picking an atom, making it an isotope or simply marking it with an asterisk, then asking you where it will end up on the product(s) or where it came from on the reactant(s). You'll probably see one or two of these pop up on your exam, so don't completely ignore the details.

 

[MollyMalone]

Moving to the MCAT forum.

 

[Caristra]

Don't study the nitty gritty of every mechanism you have ever learned. If they chose a mechanism there is no gaurantee it will be one you studied. Instead focus on the braod concepts (like charge districution and molecule stability) that allow you to guess what mechanisms will look like. There was a random mechanism on my MCAT, I think it was some form of the Hell-Volhard-Zelinsky reaction. It wasn't something I studied, but it was fine, they drew a diagram of it in the passage.