chemistryfamous: Day 18 - First Mistake

Today's lecture summarized the fundamental concepts of 'nucleophilic substitution at a carbonyl' once again. Dr. Revers also covered the hydrolysis of amides and nitriles in detail.

Importantly, the mechanisms for any hydrolysis reaction is fundamentally the same as any old carbonyl reaction. The only difference is in the nucleophile and the electrophile. In the case of hydrolysis, your nucleophile is always H2O.

I also applied Technique #4 during the lecture, as well. Dr. Revers presented an important, yet complicated, mechanism for the hydrolysis of nitriles (R-CN). I copied down the reactants and the reagents and attempted the mechanism on my own after class.

Always take every chance to practice a mechanism on your own, especially if you're a kinaesthetic learner.

Furthermore, if you've read the previous post you'll know I've done the readings up to, and including, Chapter 20 (Enols and Enolates). I've decided not to read any more than a week ahead now. At the end of the lecture, the professor mentioned "Nucleophilic addition at the carbonyl with the loss of an oxygen" - Now, I know I read the chapter completely and took notes, but I couldn't exactly remember what the mechanisms looked like. This happened because I made the mistake of reading too far ahead of lectures, and then failed to practice the concepts from that chapter soon after - and so they were forgotten.

I think of Organic Chemistry much like driving a stick-shift car, with a twist, obviously. Once you've read a chapter, you have essentially added a "gear" that your brain can shift to. Now, unless you practice using that gear in practice problems or reviewing your notes, you're going to quickly lose it. You really have to drill it in. And the more you drill it in, the longer you'll keep your new gear. This applies to any class obviously, but I think the effects are more pronounced with Chemistry, since an entire chapter (aka: a new gear) is based on a single fundamental concept.

Use it, or lose it.

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