Toughest part of Organic Chemistry

[blankguy]

What are the topics that tend to give people the most trouble in Organic Chemistry? I want to know so that I can go into Organic Chemistry with and idea of what to expect.

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[JRogoff]

Synthesis, by far!

 

[wimmcs]

Synthesis, by far!

I agree 100%...

 

[doc3341]

synthesis is cake! Proton NMR, Spectroscopy BLOWS!!!!!!!!!! 👎

 

[JRogoff]

synthesis is cake! Proton NMR, Spectroscopy BLOWS!!!!!!!!!! 👎

I had 10, 12, even 15 step synthesis problems in my orgo II class, with mechanisms! I would much rather have a spectroscopy problem any day!

 

[Slain]

Difficult spectroscopy problems can actually be a real bitch, but I have to agree that synthesis is absolutely crazy sometimes.

 

[doc3341]

I had 10, 12, even 15 step synthesis problems in my orgo II class, with mechanisms!

Cry me a river! ...big deal you write the thing out 4 or 5 times and its engraved in your brain. Spectroscopy is a bi$%#. Its like reading a freaking x-ray. Having to memorize numbers and peaks and then figuring out what the fraking compound looks like and vice versa....c'mon I'd much rather memorize a few mechanisms and spit them out on test day that to have to remember all the spectroscopy crap.
But then again remember that all out brains work differently, and what comes easy to you might be a real pain to me and vice versa.

-either way..to the person that started the thread. orgo isnt that bad. I aced both Orgo's and got C's in Gen Chem. go figure. If you have the determination to actually sit down and study an hour before and an hour after class... come test day youll rock. Best of luck to you! 😀

 

[phosphorylation]

i agree with doc, o-chem is one of those things in life that are just a pain in the ass for some people, and a nice ride for others. You can't really ask the question about which was the hardest part. some people ace general chem, and do really bad in O, and some people are exactly the opposite...and some people do exactly the same in both...i guess its just how ur brain percieves things...all i can advise u is to study before and after each lecture (alteast after), and stay on top of things. I truly don't believe that it takes a genius to ace an O class, it just takes a person who is willing to go the extra mile for something he/she believes in, like dent school or med school, etc...

I wish you the best of luck my friend...go show them what ur made of...

george

 

[jes1ca]

My O-chem II class had take-home tests that were impossible (crazy synthesis problems). We were allowed to work with two other people on the tests. The averages were around 65-70% for most of the tests. We were given a week. We'd work late every night and still get B's on the test. I thought the NMR, IR stuff was a piece of cake.

Jessica

 

[Calculus1]

I thought the naming gave me the most trouble. All those dashes and parenthesis, I got confused.😉 Seriously, though, I agree, synthesis is the most difficult, but it's also the main focus of O chem two and the last bit of Ochem 1. Phosphorylation is right, by the way, if you out work the next guy, you can do well. I'm proof positive of that.

 

[doc3341]

Naming did suck!!.. I think the reason that I despised NMR and spectroscopy so damn much was because my professor tought that as the last lesson in OrgoII. I was pretty much out of it by then. And by then I had the synthesis stuff down packed. Making synthesis considerably easy come final exam time. The way I see it, if you hate the synthesis part then its safe to say thqat you hate organic chem, because thats the majority of the stuff. Synthesis and naming are only bits and pieces of the big picture.. Just be sure to study hard.

 

[Thaxil]

I really don't think O-chem is as hard as people make it. The Hardest thing with organic is often what people overlook or loose patience trying to understand. I am referring to the four basic concepts for which all reactions are based: nucleophilic strength, carbon cation stability, resonates stabilization of charges, steric hindrance and induction. The hardest chapter for me was that nit-picky chapter called Nucleophilic Substitution and B-elimination. Aprotic vs protic solvent with a nucleophile of pka less then 11 and a secondary alpha carbon-Br will be elimination or nucleophilic addiction product. Haaarrrrr. Sorry if I brought back bad memories. This chapter really test one knowledge of the four basic concepts.

Also far as spectroscopy goes, the four concept still apply.

My method of studying organic chemistry:
Most importantly read the chapters!! Do not do what a lot of other students did in my class; only focusing on the review at the need of the chapter. By only focusing on the review, one misses out on all the conceptual knowledge that is explained in the readings. By understanding subjects like nucleophilic strength, carbon cation stability, resonates stabilization of charges, and induction, one can see connections between reactions and view the list of twenty reaction at the back of the chapter as a list of different molecules using the same reaction.

I find the majority of the people who have problems with organic chem. rely on pure memorization. This is not the way to do it! I studied hard trying to understand the concepts during the first semesters, but did not even study during the second because the second semester only repeated the same concept but in a more enveloped way.

I can go on trying to convince you as I did with the students that I tutored. There are no short cuts; if you rely on memory you will have a tough time memorizing 35 reaction for each chapter and memorizing the previous chapters reactions for the synthesis problems.

 

[Bickle]

Lets face it guys, theres nothing easy about O-Chem. Everything is a bitch to learn in this ungodly subject. Hopefully we wont have to use much o-chem in dental school.

 

[blankguy]

I really don't think O-chem is as hard as people make it. The Hardest thing with organic is often what people overlook or loose patience trying to understand. I am referring to the four basic concepts for which all reactions are based: nucleophilic strength, carbon cation stability, resonates stabilization of charges, steric hindrance and induction. The hardest chapter for me was that nit-picky chapter called Nucleophilic Substitution and B-elimination. Aprotic vs protic solvent with a nucleophile of pka less then 11 and a secondary alpha carbon-Br will be elimination or nucleophilic addiction product. Haaarrrrr. Sorry if I brought back bad memories. This chapter really test one knowledge of the four basic concepts.

Also far as spectroscopy goes, the four concept still apply.

My method of studying organic chemistry:
Most importantly read the chapters!! Do not do what a lot of other students did in my class; only focusing on the review at the need of the chapter. By only focusing on the review, one misses out on all the conceptual knowledge that is explained in the readings. By understanding subjects like nucleophilic strength, carbon cation stability, resonates stabilization of charges, and induction, one can see connections between reactions and view the list of twenty reaction at the back of the chapter as a list of different molecules using the same reaction.

I find the majority of the people who have problems with organic chem. rely on pure memorization. This is not the way to do it! I studied hard trying to understand the concepts during the first semesters, but did not even study during the second because the second semester only repeated the same concept but in a more enveloped way.

I can go on trying to convince you as I did with the students that I tutored. There are no short cuts; if you rely on memory you will have a tough time memorizing 35 reaction for each chapter and memorizing the previous chapters reactions for the synthesis problems.

The whole point of this thread was to see what most people had trouble with since that will mean the chances of me being tripped up by the same subject is good.

Thaxil you seem to be alluding that organic chemistry has a pattern (conceptually) once I figure that out then everything else will fall into place.

 

[Bebe1126]

Try Kaplan's Organic Edge... its a must buy and a must read.. The first half might be a bit easy.. but it certainly does give a solid foundation to advance on. Organic Edge + Princeton , perfect combination!

 

[Biogirl361]

you know, i was so scared going into my orgo 1 class because i had always heard how terribly hard organic chemistry is. i soon found out it was way easier than inorganic chemistry for me, and i had to try much less hard to do well. so don't go into it scared to death because of what you have heard about it or people say it is so hard. you might find out you love it. naming is really hard at first, but will become second nature around the time you take your first exam. for me, mechanisms were definitly the toughest, and i probably still don't completely grasp them, and i got a 4.0 in both semesters. fortunately we were tested on them minimally as long as we knew what the end product was we could pretty ignore the mechanisms and get by. my advice, get the book and the study guide and do as many of the practice problems at the end of the chapter as you can even if it is not assigned homework. if you are solid knowing how to do those you should ace the exams if your class is anything like both of mine were. good luck!!

 

[edkNARF]

I agree with JRogoff that synthesis can be quite challenging, but I have to go with Spectroscopy. Once you learn the reactions, mechanism, and have a little practice, they are not bad. I just never got spectroscopy. Thank god all you had to do for the DAT was just memorize IR bands!