Award-Winning Organic Chemistry Tutors serving Vancouver

In the last session with the student, we covered the amine section of the organic chemistry coursework. We first went through some basics of hybridization of orbitals and resonance structures which allowed her to catch up on some concepts that were not properly covered during her Org Chem 1 coursework. We went through several examples and the student was able to work through all of them after the review. In the next session, using the template exam from her teacher, we will be focusing on specific problem areas to make sure she does well on the next exam.

Reviewed alkine-alcohol reactions to keep step with the student's current classes. Filled in some key areas about usefulness of these reactions (or lack thereof) and potential uses of their reactants and products, including methanol/ethanol and ethylene monomers, and how we then typically go on to produces polymers from these compounds.

The student and I went over alkenes and alkynes. We covered the properties of double and triple-bonded organic compounds and their reactivities. We covered the mechanisms for elimination reactions (E1 and E2) and the types of conditions that favor them. I emphasized the use of a bulky base (i.e. tert-buytl oxides) to promote elimination reactions.

The student and I covered enols / enolates and their reactions: aldol condensation, claissen reaction, Robinson annulation, etc., and reviewed practice tests and homework. She has put in a serious amount of time to get ready for this lesson. We had a very productive session.

During this session, the student and I reviewed general mechanisms for various reactions including claisen condensations, aldol reactions and other conjugate addition reactions. We then went over many of the practice problems that the student had been assigned. I think he is developing a greater intuition as to how reaction mechanisms work as well as how electrons move within a reaction.

Completed the student's weekly online quiz, which covered organic chemistry as well as biochemistry. Important topics included stereochemistry and enzyme functions in the human body.