Rules of the Day 5-04-07

I will be holding an office hour for the final on Monday, May 7 from 2PM - 3:30 PM, Room: WEL 2.224

1. Many syntheses are carried with a starting material reversibly attached to beads. This has the advantage of allowing exchange of reagents and isolation of products by simple filtration. Can be automated, allowing the synthesis of even complex molecules like DNA, RNA, and proteins by machine. Also allows synthesis of hundreds of molecules in parallel, speeding up the drug discovery process.

2. THE POINT of this class and of organic chemistry is synthesis - making new molecules such as pharmaceuticals. We learn and understand mechanisms to allow the prediction of reactions as well as their regiochemistry and stereochemistry. A second point of the class is to learn organic chemistry concepts that will be important for your later education (i.e. biochemistry).

3. "Organic Chemistry is like a fatal viral infection of your grades. There is no cure, just prevention by never falling behind!" …….. A Guy with a Trumpet and a Computer

4. "Education is what's left after what you've learned has been forgotten" ……James Conant

5. "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler"...........Albert Einstein

6. "The only real valuable thing is intuition"...........Albert Einstein

7. "Organic is really hard if you try to memorize it instead of trying to learn and understand it"............The Organic Vampire Monkey

8. The most important question in chemistry is: "Where are the electrons?" The answer is that electrons are generally in higher amounts around the more electronegative atoms (e.g. F, Cl, O, N) of a molecule. Knowing where electrons are allows you to understand chemistry as opposed to simply memorizing flashcards.

9. The seven golden rules of organic chemistry explain most of what we will learn about organic chemistry

10. "Understanding Where Electrons Are and knowing how to apply the Golden Rules of Chemistry will make Organic Chemistry class as simple as possible, and will give you Organic Chemistry intuition"............Fortune Cookie Saying

11. Each reaction is a chemical "tool", to be used to construct molecules. Learning mechanisms provides a means for you to understand the reactions.

Understand and learn. Do not only memorize!

12. The best way to learn how to use the different reactions for synthesis is with a "roadmap".

Tips on how to study for the final:

today throug next MONDAY

1. Go through the rules of the day and the pictures of the day. Use this as a guide to uncovering what you do and do not need to study.

2. Study off of the outlines you made of the class notes and reading, study off the roadmap and mechanism sheets you made throughout the semester.

3. Study mechanisms, noticing similarities and and differences between mechanisms. There are more similarities than differences!

4. Learn all of the key recognition elements for the different reactions

5. Make flash cards with real examples of each different reaction, with the reactants on the front, and the product on the back. BE ABLE TO DO THE FLASHCARDS BOTH WAYS; LOOKING AT THE FRONT AND GUESSING THE PRODUCT, AND LOOKING AT THE PRODUCT AND GUESSING THE STARTING MATERIALS

starting next MONDAY

6. Get into groups and study reactions. Practice giving each other problems of the form: starting material A reacts with reagent B to give and get good at coming up with the products of the different reactions.

7. This is the important one that should take most of your time working in groups. Practice drawing products of reactions for each other, and get good at deducing what molecules and reagents were used to make them. This is the single most effective way to get ready for synthesis and reaction problems on the final.

7. Next TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY

8. Start going through the old final and other exams just to make sure you are familiar with the material. Do keep in mind that I emphasize different material different years, and do not assume what is on a final one year will be exactly the same in subsequent years. Nevertheless, if there are questions you do not understand, spend your last studying time going over that material.

9. Go through all the assigned homework problem sets and answers.

10. GET A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP BEFORE THE EXAM

Final Exam: Saturday, May 12, 7-10, Rooms WEL 2.224, WEL 3.502, WEL 1.316

Those of you with last names starting with the letters A-L report to WEL 2.224, those with last names starting with M-R report to WEL 3.502, those with last names starting with the letters S-Z report to WEL 1.316.