I will be taking “introduction to organic chemistry” in two weeks. I hear that it is a very hard class and would like to read through some of the chapters to prepare. Specifically what aspect of organic chemistry should I focus on most? What will most likely help me to succeed in this class? Tips?
help is appreciated!

One Response to “what should I focus my studies on when preparing for intro to organic chemistry?”

1. Akito A on December 1st, 2008 5:41 pm

   memorizing all the reactions will not help you get an A. It will help you get a B.
   do loads of synthesis practice problems. LOADS. it will make you go backwards and forwards on all the reactions you memorized. and remember the foundation is the reactions. you have to memorize them first.
   we also had a few IR and NMR spectroscopy in our three quarter ochem course. practice an NMR a day. I was a pro at NMR after doing that.
   we had our ochem course split to A, B, and C. In B, the middle of ochem course (which is the best I can describe the place..haha sorry), there are many reactions, and some tricky reactions deal with particular solvents. know your solvents. know the tricky stuff.
   know your resonance structures for the first quarter of ochem.

   the stuff you focus on in your first quarter of ochem is different than the stuff you need to focus on for the second and third quarters (in my school it is like that).
   to sum up: first quarter: resonance, reactions, synthesis, acidity and basicity (rate 15 compounds from 1-15 on how acidic they are with 1 being the most acidic just by looking at the molecular structure), pKa values are helpful to remember, IR spectroscopy + NMR
   second and third: REACTIONS, SYNTHESIS, and a few minor stuff that is special for each functional group depending on which chapters you are on

   my university is weird too and starts in two weeks as well.

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