Organic Chemistry: How to Build People

Understanding organic chemistry can seem daunting with its vast array of compounds and reactions. This course simplifies the subject, revealing that a core set of principles underlies most organic chemistry concepts. We'll break down the material into manageable sections, focusing on fundamental concepts and their applications.

Structure and Bonding

This section lays the groundwork for understanding organic molecules. You'll:

• Review essential general chemistry concepts including atomic electronic structure, Lewis structures, and the octet rule.
• Explore different types of chemical bonding, electronegativity, and formal charges.
• Predict bonding patterns in compounds containing carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), and halogens.
• Identify and compare resonance-stabilized structures, understanding the significance of resonance forms.
• Learn to draw and interpret structural formulas, including condensed and line-angle formulas.
• Predict molecular hybridization and geometry based on bonding.
• Identify and differentiate between isomers.

Acids, Bases, and Functional Groups

Here, we delve into the properties and reactivity of organic molecules. You will:

• Identify molecular features responsible for polarity and hydrogen bonding.
• Predict physical property trends like boiling points and solubilities.
• Distinguish between acids, bases, electrophiles, and nucleophiles.
• Compare the strengths of acids and bases and predict reaction outcomes based on structure, bonding, and Ka/pKa values.
• Identify nucleophiles and electrophiles in Lewis acid-base reactions and use curved arrows to illustrate electron flow.
• Classify general types of organic compounds.

Structure and Stereochemistry of Alkanes

This section focuses on the simplest organic compounds, alkanes. You'll:

• Draw and name isomers of alkanes and analyze their physical property trends.
• Draw and compare alkane conformations, predicting the most stable conformation based on energy considerations.
• Draw and name isomers of cycloalkanes and understand the concept of ring strain.
• Draw and compare cycloalkane conformations, predicting the most stable conformation.

The Study of Chemical Reactions

Finally, we explore the mechanisms of organic reactions. You will:

• Propose reaction mechanisms and explain the step-by-step process.
• Analyze simple reactions like free-radical halogenation.