Day 59 - Second Half

Good to be back from the break. Today's class began with some short review and a basic explanation of Michael Additions (see the link in the sidebar for more information).

Essentially, we're learning how to make a "1, 4" nucleophilic attack occur instead of a "1, 2".

The basic argument is that the carbonyl (C=O) on carbon 1 is more electrophilic (hard) than the C=C double bond along carbon 4 (soft). In the case of a nucleophilic attack, a harder nucleophile would attack C=O, while a softer nucleophile would attack C=C. Generally, to drive attack at C=C, we'd use a reagent called an "organocuprate" that's basically a softer organolithium. Organocuprates, being soft and all, would rather attack C=C than C=O. Makes sense.

We'll be moving into Aromatic Chemistry by next week; I'm looking forward to seeing what that's all about.