Posts Tagged "fall semester"

Preparing for Organic Chemistry This Fall

Posted on August 5th, 2017

One of the questions we are repeatedly asked at StudyOrgo is “how do I to get ahead in organic chemistry this fall semester?” Many of you have heard that organic chemistry is a brutal class that does little but to depress your GPA. While it is true that this course is challenging, we here at StudyOrgo are devoted to helping you get the “A” you deserve!

Organic chemistry gets a bad name because it assumes that you are experts with regards to all of the general chemistry from freshman year, and you are now responsible to know it!  As an analogy, think of your chemistry courses as a pyramid to reaching your degree goals.  Organic chemistry is directly placed in the middle of the pyramid, it will be very important not only for the MCAT or DAT exams, but also for future advanced courses.  Organic chemistry is supported by General Chemistry, which is why you took it last year.  Fortunately, StudyOrgo is placed in the center of your pyramid base and we are here to help all of your organic chemistry questions.  Our simple and clear-cut explanations of reaction mechanisms and concepts will easily help you with anything you might struggle with this semester.  Here are a few tips on how to prepare today for the course this Fall.

chemistry pyramid

  • Open your text book –Read the title and abstract on the first page of each chapter and check out the number of pages. It will give you a very quick idea of what you will be learning about in each chapter and how much material you will be covering.
  • Look at a syllabus – Remember, your syllabus is an official contract between you and the professor. They must disclose what you are required to learn and how you will be graded. Professors can remove requirements but cannot easily add them. Use this to your advantage! Highlight the contents or reactions of the book that will be required and use this to focus your attention on while studying over the semester.
  • Schedule your studying! – Now that you know where the book is and a rough idea of what you are responsible for learning from the syllabus, take a calendar and divide the time you have to each test by the number of chapters. Schedule 2-3 hours a week to study and DON’T SKIP OR RESCHEDULE. Think of it as a doctor or dentist appointment – you just have to do it! Also, if you plan your studying ahead, you will be less likely to schedule something that gets in the way because you will already have penciled it in! Use your Smartphone calendar to send you alerts and reminders for your studying appointment.
  • Read ahead – If you have time this summer, read at least two chapters to get yourself ahead of the class. Don’t try to understand everything, just pay attention to the words used and the ideas. This will allow you to pay more attention and ask questions about the details in class instead of scrambling to write down notes and drawings.
  • Sign up with StudyOrgo – The Editors at StudyOrgo have spent numerous hours reviewing and preparing the material in the most crystal-clear and “get-to-the-point” manner as possible. We consult students and ask for their opinion on whether they understand the material as presented. We provide quick descriptions and in-depth mechanism explanations. Many of our reaction have multiple examples, so you can learn and then quiz yourself in our website! For the student on-the-go, we have also developed a mobile app (iOS and Android) provides all the functionality of the website! All of these benefits are included in your StudyOrgo membership!

With a little time management and help from StudyOrgo, you will have no trouble getting an “A” in Organic Chemistry this year!

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What to Expect for Organic Chem Fall Semester

Posted on August 4th, 2016

This semester you will start Organic Chemistry and you have likely heard a lot of rumors about the class; statements from upperclassmen like “it’s difficult”, “this class is impossible” or “the professor is horrible!” We here at StudyOrgo have helped countless students overcome the difficulties of this class and can help you before you even enter the class. We have over 20 years of collective experience tutoring and teaching Organic Chemistry and have developed a few helpful tips that have saved students from the seemingly crushing pressure of Orgo 1.

Hard Organic Chemistry Professor

StudyOrgo has over 180 reaction mechanisms typically covered in Organic chemistry and explained in an intuitive and clear manner available in an online format. We also offer the Quiz Mode to allow you to customize reactions and test your memory of important parts of all of our reactions. We offer simplified and illustrated descriptions of complex concept topics that you will encounter in your first few weeks in Orgo 1. We also have developed a mobile app for iOS and Android smartphones that allows you to study organic chemistry on the go! Sign up with StudyOrgo today to take full advantage of our system!

Here’s what you can expect in the first few weeks of Organic Chemistry 1.

  1. Most professors will spend the first class reintroducing general chemistry topics, but he or she will completely assume you received an A+ in general chemistry and have a full grasp of all these concepts! Refresh your memory of atomic structure, valence electrons, acids/bases and pH/pKa concepts. These will be used right away in Orgo 1. If you aren’t sure, ASK FOR HELP!!

Tip #1 – Look at a syllabus – Remember, your syllabus is an official contract between you and the professor. Professors are required to disclose what you are required to learn and what grading rubric will be used. Professors can usually remove requirements (to the delight of the students!) but cannot easily add them. Use this to your advantage! Highlight the contents or reactions of the book that will be required and use this to focus your attention when studying this semester.

  1. Professors will almost always begin quizzing the second week, the midterm is only 7 weeks away. Prepare for them early!!

Tip #2 – Schedule you’re studying! – Now that you know where the book is and a rough idea of what you are responsible for learning from the syllabus, take a calendar and divide the time you have to each test by the number of chapters. Schedule 2-3 hours a week to study and DON’T SKIP OR RESCHEDULE. Use your Smartphone calendar to send you alerts and reminders for your studying appointment.

  1. The class is about to go supersonic speed! Stay ahead of the pace of the class to avoid falling behind!!!

Tip #3 – Read ahead – The first week of Orgo2, read two chapters to get yourself ahead of the class. Don’t try to understand everything, just read the text and try to understand the big ideas. This will completely change the way you pay attention in class and allow you to spend more attention and ask questions about the details in class instead of scrambling to write down notes and drawings.

Tip #4 – Attempt ALL homework problems – When tutoring students, they are often intimidated when we ask them to try sample problems. But after a few examples, every student does them better and better with each new problem. Some students have even made comments such as ‘why didn’t I do this sooner?’ We were at StudyOrgo agree! It takes a lot of time, but practicing the problems will make it easier for the quizzes and tests.

Most importantly, RELAX!! With a little time management and help from StudyOrgo, you will have no trouble getting an “A” in Organic Chemistry this year!

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Chirality and Assigning Stereochemistry to Molecules

Posted on August 11th, 2015

One of the most important skills to master in organic chemistry is the ability to assign stereochemistry.  We at StudyOrgo have devised clear cut explanations of these difficult concepts for students to maximize their time studying and learn difficult concepts quickly and easily. Sign up with StudyOrgo.com today for all of your organic chemistry studying needs!

Chirality is an important aspect of life.  This is so because many of the basic molecules used in living cells, in particular amino acids that form enzymes, are also chiral. Chirality imparts asymmetry on our molecules, allowing them the ability to recognize “handedness” and further add to the complexity and specificity of reactions. As organic chemists, we must pay constant attention to the chirality of molecules both before and after reactions, less the compounds lose their biological or chemical activity.

Chirality is defined as any object in which the mirror images are not superimposable. A good example is your hands; they are mirror images but not superimposable. Translating this to organic molecules, a stereocenter is a carbon center with 4 unique substituents that are arranged such that the mirror image is not superimposable. Thus, they “look” like to different molecules although they have the same substituents. If we alter the arrangement of the substituents, we can always come up with 2 arrangements for each substituent, R or S configuration.  Thus, each stereocenter must have 2 stereoisomers.

chiral 1

In order to determine whether the sterecenter is the the R or S configuration, there are a series of steps to follow.

  1. Identify the stereocenter as 4 unique substituents attached to the chiral center
  2. Assign priority based on atom atomic number, highest (1) to lowest (4) weight.
  3. If two atoms are same, move to next bond to find first point of difference
  4. Rotate the molecule so that Priority 4 atom is in the hashed wedge position.
  5. Determine the Priority sequence 1-2-3 rotates to the left (S) or the right (R).

chiral 2

Lastly, an important concept to keep in mind is that as molecules become more complex, they also can acquire more stereocenters.  Keeping in mind that each stereocenter can produce 2 stereoisomers, we describe possible stereoisomerism using the 2n rule. Let’s examine a molecule with 2 stereocenters, following the 2n rule that gives us 22=4 stereocenters.  The possible combinations are listed below.

Screen Shot 2014-12-18 at 1.00.28 PM

We now introduce the last concept to stereochemistry which is the difference between enantiomers and diastereomers.  Enantiomers are molecules with exactly opposite stereoisomers.  For example, the enantiomer of the molecule with stereochemistry R,R would be S,S.  The relationship between molecule R,R and R,S is what is described as diastereomers, which differ in some but not all stereocenters.

Let’s consider the biologically active form of testosterone, 5-DHT which is shown below.  We indicate that it has 7 stereocenters in the molecule.  Applying the 2n rule, we calculate 128 possible stereoisomer combinations.  That concludes that while testosterone has 1 enantiomer, it has 126 diastereomers and remember…only 5-DHT works on our bodies!

Screen Shot 2014-12-18 at 1.02.36 PM

 

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