ryan213113
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Amateur Organic Chemistry - theory before practice ?
Dear Sciencemadness community, I'd like to get some advice.
Being a first year chemistry major student, I haven't had any college level organic chemistry classes, except for previous highschool org. chemistry.
Would anyone advise against practicing organic chemistry as an amateur at home before learning reaction mechanisms, or is it doable by just reading
procedures and replicating them ?
I've had general chemistry lab (inorganic), and know most common lab techniques. Of course I know some basic org. chemistry (nomenclature, some
reactions, etc.), so I'd like to hear more from you, experienced amateurs.
[Edited on 2-11-2023 by ryan213113]
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DraconicAcid
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That depends on what kind of organic chemistry you're planning on doing. If you want to make some esters, fine. If you're planning Diels-Alder
reactions, then don't bother. The problem with organic chemistry is all the products tend to look similar, so it's tough to tell if you have obtained
the stuff you want.
Or maybe I'm biased toward transition metal chemistry.
Please remember: "Filtrate" is not a verb.
Write up your lab reports the way your instructor wants them, not the way your ex-instructor wants them.
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Rainwater
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Deffenetly practice procedures, distillation, appratus setup and usage, filtration, cleanup etc.
These should be well understood and rehearsed.
Understanding the cause and solution to problems that arise, is much easier the 10th time you deal with it compared to the first
You only get a limited amount of lab time.
Being fast is dangerous, proficiency is tye goal
As for real reactions, its kinda a balanced act.
Without understanding the mechanism, their isnt much point than to
just to have a shelf of reagents.
Precursors to a greater reaction your studing, ok little more sensible.
"You can't do that" - challenge accepted
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Neal
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When I 1st took organic chemistry, I was bored, thinking this is all stuff about for the gasoline industry. But when I took medicinal chemistry and
pharmacology, I got more interested. This is good stuff to get into the pharmaceutical industry.
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Texium
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I think organic chemistry is easier to learn if you’ve already had some practical experience. By the time I formally took organic chemistry, I had
already done multiple esterifications, SN1 and SN2 substitution reactions, electrophilic aromatic bromination, and even a Grignard at home, all
without really understanding the mechanisms. That’s not to say understanding mechanisms isn’t important- it certainly is, especially if you want
to try to discover new chemistry. But I think having the practical experience gave me an edge over my classmates since having already performed many
of the reactions we were talking about made the material seem less abstract and easier to engage with.
So OP, I’d advise you to explore the chemistry that you find interesting, whatever it may be, and even if your theoretical knowledge isn’t there
yet, you’re actively learning, so it should catch up.
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6dthjd1
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Theory might work better if your abstract reasoning skills are more unusually better than most people's
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