1) Mechanisms
Some of the mechanisms are more important to know than others. Although it is wonderful to know all of the mechanisms from your textbook, you should especially concentrate on:
- the addition of a molecule across the alkene double bond. Know the explanation behind Markovnikov orientation.
- the substitution and elimination reactions that your book spent a whole chapter on were covered in depth for a reason. They are a great introduction to the electron-pushing style of drawing a reaction mechanism. They are also a good introduction to some three-dimensional issues with reaction mechanisms.
2) Memorizing
You're going to need to memorize quite a few reactions. Once a week from mid-October onwards in the first semester and a half-dozen a week in the second semester. I recommend making flash cards and reviewing these flash cards daily. I don't know any other way to keep all those reactions in your head. You need to have a rapid, facile command of ALL the reactions simultaneously for doing multiple step syntheses.
First Semester Organic Chemistry
First Semester organic starts out with Chapter One, which is a real grab-bag of miscellaneous topics. Don't try to get exact details here; just go for the six or seven broad concepts. Depending on the book, the most important test taking skill you will need from Chapter One in Organic Chemistry is Lewis Dot Structures, including distinguishing sp1, sp2, sp3 hybridized orbitals, drawing the geometric molecule shape, calculating formal charge, and learning to draw a
line drawing
style molecule. Being competent with drawing things as a line structure will make the next 40 weeks of your life much easier!
For the rest of the first semester, you need to be able to imitate all of the drawings that the professor puts on the board. When a reaction goes through 4 steps, treat that like a little story: this is a plot line and you are an English major. You will be tested on what happens when and why.
Second Semester Organic Chemistry Tips
For the second semester, this all changes. Suddenly the fraction of reactions you need to understand reaction mechanisms for drops dramatically. Instead of learning three reactions per week and knowing the details of what happens when, you will instead be learning a half dozen reactions per
day
and noone will care how most of the reactions work. Tests and quizzes will often just want to know "the punchline" of a reaction: what's the product, what's its stereochemistry. More importantly, there will be one or two pages per exam where you are asked to string together your numerous reaction recipes into long, six step syntheses, pulling reactions from your repertoire like an archer plucking arrows from a quiver in a heated melee.