First Semester Topics

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

• Organic Chemistry 101
  • Introduction
  • Electron Configurations of Atoms
  • QM Description of Orbitals
  • Practice Time - Electron Configurations
  • Hybridization
  • Strategy to Determine Hybridization
  • Practice Time! - Hybridization
  • Formal Charge
  • Practice Time - Formal Charge
  • Acids-bases
  • Practice Time - Acids and Bases
  • Hydrogen Bonding is a Verb!
  • Health and Nutrition Connections - Introduction
  • Progress Pulse
  • Your Progress
• 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
  • Structural Representations
  • Progress Pulse
  • Progress Pulse
  • Rules of Thumb
• Acids/Base and Reactions
  • Reactions
  • Thermodynamics of Reactions
  • Acids Intro
  • Practice Time! Generating a conjugate base.
  • Lewis Acids and Bases
  • pKa Scale
  • Practice Time! pKa's
  • Predicting Acid-Base Reactions from pKa
  • Structure and Acidity
  • Structure and Acidity II
  • Practice Time! Structure and Acidity
  • Curved Arrows and Reactions
  • Nucleophiles
  • Electrophiles
  • Practice Time! Identifying Nucleophiles and Electrophiles
  • Mechanisms and Arrow Pushing
  • Practice Time! Mechanisms and Reactions
  • Energy Diagrams and Reactions
  • Practice Time! - Energy Diagrams
  • Progress Pulse
• Alkanes and Cycloalkanes
  • Introduction to Hydrocarbons and Alkanes
  • Functional Groups
  • Practice Time! Functional Groups.
  • Naming Alkanes
  • Practice Time! Naming Alkanes
  • Physical Properties of Alkanes
  • Ranking Boiling Point and Solubility of Compounds
  • Conformations of Acyclic Alkanes
  • Practice Time! Conformations of acyclic alkanes.
  • Naming Cycloalkanes
  • Conformations of Cyclic Alkanes
  • Naming Bicyclic Compounds
  • Stability of Cycloalkane (Combustion Analysis)
  • Degree of Unsaturation
• Stereochemistry
  • Constitutional and Stereoisomers
  • Chirality or Handedness
  • Drawing a Molecules Mirror Image
  • Exploring Mirror Image Structures
  • Enantiomers
  • Drawing Enantiomers
  • Practice Time! Drawing Enantiomers
  • Identifying Chiral Centers
  • Practice Time! Identifying Chiral Molecules
  • CIP (Cahn-Ingold-Prelog) Priorities
  • Determining R/S Configuration
  • Diastereomers
  • Meso Compounds
  • Fischer Projections
  • Fischer Projections: Carbohydrates
  • Measuring Chiral Purity
  • Practice Time! - Determining Chiral Purity and ee
  • Chirality and Drugs
  • Chiral Synthesis
  • Prochirality
  • Converting Fischer Projections to Zig-zag Structures
  • Practice Time! - Assigning R/S Configurations
• Alkenes and Addition Reactions
  • Health Insight - BVO (Brominated Vegetable Oil)
  • Cis/Trans Isomerism in Alkenes
  • 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
  • Naming Alkyl Halides
  • Naming Alcohols
  • E1-Elimination
  • E2-Elimination
• Aliphatic Substitutions (SN1/SN2)
  • Introduction
  • Mechanisms
  • Stereospecificity of SN1 and SN2 Reactions
  • 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