Day 13 - Mechanisms.

Today's Problem Sets
1. Grignard Reactions
2. Preparing Organolithiums
3. Nucleophilic & Electrophilic Additions
4. Carboxylic Acid Derivative Questions
5. Aldehyde and Ketone Questions
6. Organometallic Questions

The PDF Files for Problem Sets 1-3 can be accessed from the "Problem Sets" link in menubar above. Problem Sets 4-6 are linked in blue. Note: The answers are included, too!

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What did I learn from this problem set?

• When pH is mentioned in the reagents section, they're usually referring to the presence of an acid/base catalyst. 
• Writing "Mg" as a source of Magnesium for your reactants is accepted, as is writing "Li" as a source of Lithium. 
• The typical solvent used with Grignard reagents is Et2O, and for Organolithiums it is THF. These solvents are polar aprotic, so our R- nucleophile can't rip off a hydrogen from them; they must attack our electrophile. 
• I learned about the existence of Cuprates; I have to figure out what they do.
• Protons may shift from a Nitrogen atom to an OH group to create an extra N-C bond and eliminate water. I want to figure out why this is favoured over just remaining as NH and OH. 
• The "Witting Reaction" is something I need to learn because I came across it in these problem sets but skipped it in my readings. 

Technique #6: 

When I got stumped, I went and looked up the answer and made a side note of why I could'nt solve the question. Also, anytime I learned a new useful fact (like for example, R-MgBr & Et2O and R-Li & THF typically go together in a reaction), I also made a quick note. After I'm done, I'll go back and review all those side notes and take 5-minutes to teach myself those little concepts so I'll be able to get through them next time. 

Reflection

These six problem sets took me between 4-5 hours to complete. For the next batch of problem sets I do, I'm going to print them off and complete them as if they were an exam. Maybe with that kind of environment, I can finish five or six in two hours. Today I did my problem sets from my laptop while listening to instrumentals, and chatting online occasionally. 

Give these problems sets a try, they're very relevant to what we've been learning in class this week and will keep your memory fresh.

Today's Tune: J. Cole - G.O.M.D. Instrumental (Forest Hills Drive)