First Semester Topics

This chapter provides topics found in a typical first semester organic chemistry course.

• Structure and Bonding
  • Chemical Intuition
  • Difficulty-in-organic-chemistry
  • Atomic Orbitals
  • Electron Configurations of Atoms
  • Practice Time - Structure and Bonding 1
  • Lewis Structures
  • Drawing Lewis Structures Guide
  • Valence Bond Theory
  • Hybridization
  • Polar Covalent Bonds
  • Formal Charge
  • Practice Time - Structure and Bonding 2
  • Curved Arrow Notation
  • Resonance
  • Electrons behave like waves
  • MO Theory Intro
  • Rules of Thumb
  • Structural Representations
• Acids/Base and Reactions
  • Reactions
  • Acids Intro
  • Lewis Acids and Bases
  • pKa Scale
  • Structure and Acidity
  • Structure and Acidity II
  • Curved Arrows and Reactions
  • Energy Diagrams and Reactions
  • Nucleophiles
  • Electrophiles
• Functional Groups
• Alkanes and Cycloalkanes
  • Naming Alkanes
  • Conformations of Acyclic Alkanes
  • Conformations of Cyclic Alkanes
• Stereochemistry
  • Chirality or Handedness
  • Enantiomers
  • Identifing Chiral Centers
  • You Try!
  • Determining R/S Configuration
  • Diastereomers
  • Meso Compounds
  • Measuring Chiral Purity
  • Chirality and Drugs
  • Chiral Synthesis
• Alkenes and Addition Reactions
  • Application - BVO (Brominated Vegetable Oil)
  • E/Z and CIP
  • Stability of Alkenes
  • H-X Addition to Alkenes: Hydrohalogenation
  • Practice Time - Hydrohalogenation
  • X2 Addition to Alkenes: Halogenation
  • HOX addition: Halohydrins
  • Practice Time - Halogenation
  • Hydroboration/Oxidation of Alkenes: Hydration
  • Practice Time - Hydroboration-Oxidation
  • Oxymercuration-Reduction: Hydration
  • Practice Time - Oxymercuration/Reduction
  • Oxidation
  • Reduction
• Alkynes
  • H-X Addition to Alkynes
  • X2 Addition
  • Hydration
  • alkynes-introduction
• Alcohols and Alkyl Halides
  • E1-Elimination
  • E2-Elimination
• Aliphatic Substitutions (SN1/SN2)
  • Introduction
  • Mechanisms
  • Solvent Effects
  • Effect of Substrate
  • Effect of the Nucleophile
  • Leaving Group Effects
  • Animation
• Dienes, Allylic and Benzylic systems
  • Allyl Cations, Anions and Radicals
  • Allyl and Vinyl Groups
  • Allylic Halogenation
  • SN1 and SN2 Reactions of Allylic Halides and Tosylates
  • Diels Alder Reaction
  • Electrophilic Addition - 1,2 versus 1,4
  • Endo versus Exo Attack