Like many other instructors, I do the majority of spectroscopy instruction in my laboratory. It seems natural to integrate spectroscopy problems into lab exercises, and to use the molecules we make as the platform for understanding how to analyze them. Most organic texts I have seen introduce spectroscopy towards the end of the first semester … Continue reading Spectroscopy: Seeing (and Using) the Big Picture
All Downhill After the Aldol
Ah yes, it is that time of year again; a seven week coast to the Organic Chemistry II finish line. All the elementary steps have been introduced and discussed multiple times and it feels like review from here. Most texts seem to end with reactions like Aldol condensation and Robinson Annulation. A functional group approach … Continue reading All Downhill After the Aldol
Cutting off the Tail
testing
Favorite First-Semester Chapter: Chapter 9
My favorite chapter to teach in first-semester organic chemistry has to be Chapter 9 (“Nucleophilic Substitution and Elimination Reactions 1”) from Karty's text. The introductions of SN2/E2 and SN1/E1 reactions begin in Chapters 7 and 8, respectively, but Chapter 9 puts these reactions to the test and suggests to the students that reactions do not … Continue reading Favorite First-Semester Chapter: Chapter 9
When to Introduce Conjugate Addition: Sometimes More is More
There were two places in Joel’s text that surprised me: where 1,2 versus 1,4 addition to a conjugated diene appeared—Chapter 11—and where direct versus conjugate nucleophilic addition to polar pi bonds appeared—Chapter 17. Both of these chapters introduce basic concepts and then expand all the way to complex applications, much further than a functional-group organized … Continue reading When to Introduce Conjugate Addition: Sometimes More is More
How the Ten Elementary Steps Unified My Course
For years I told my students they shouldn’t merely memorize a list of reactions. But what were my actions really telling them? In the last textbook I used, the alkene chapter began with nomenclature, then covered Markovnikov addition of H-X and water, halogenation and halohydrin formation, and ended with hydroboration/oxidation. The next chapter that covered … Continue reading How the Ten Elementary Steps Unified My Course
Building on their Knowledge: From Atoms to Multi-Step Synthesis to Curing Sick Puppies
Karty’s mechanistic approach to organic chemistry provides the content organization to facilitate student success. In a functional group approach students are more likely to apply an incorrect mechanism to solve a synthetic problem. This is because classification by functional group does not provide an organizational level that allows students to classify reactivity. Organization by functional … Continue reading Building on their Knowledge: From Atoms to Multi-Step Synthesis to Curing Sick Puppies
Mechanisms Make Everything Easier
My first teaching responsibility upon coming to Northern Arizona University was our ten-week Organic Chemistry II summer course. Besides never having taught a summer ten-week session, I had never taught organic chemistry from Karty's text. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Karty's text was organized by mechanisms, making lecture preparation, and overall flow of … Continue reading Mechanisms Make Everything Easier
Taking the Enolate off the Pedestal
I’ve noticed over the years that when I put a “name” on something, students tend to panic. We will be doing just fine with SN2 reactions, but when I suddenly name it the Williamson Ether Synthesis, my students become very concerned, as if it’s some completely different concept. Whenever I bring up the Williamson Ether … Continue reading Taking the Enolate off the Pedestal
My Most Productive Start of the Semester Ever
The first time I taught out of Joel’s text, I had no idea where I was going to put the semester break. I enjoyed how well each chapter flowed into the next, but that left me wondering where to put a five-week break. I was used to a traditional ordering of subject which resulted in … Continue reading My Most Productive Start of the Semester Ever