Intro to Organic Chemistry Learning Objectives

The specific learning objectives for each topic in the Organic course are listed here.

TOPIC 1 Nomenclature

The following list is a GUIDE to what you should study in order to be prepared for the Organic test on TOPIC 1. In order to be fully prepared you should seek help if required, refer to the relevant chapter in the textbook and review ALL relevant notes, homework, worksheets, classwork and other materials

ALL students should;

understand what is meant by the term homologous series
understand, and be able to apply, the rules of systematic nomenclature for compounds relevant to this syllabus

TOPIC 2 Isomerism

The following list is a GUIDE to what you should study in order to be prepared for the Organic test on TOPIC 2. In order to be fully prepared you should seek help if required, refer to the relevant chapter in the textbook and review ALL relevant notes, homework, worksheets, classwork and other materials

ALL students should;

be able to recognize and predict the existence of structural isomerism, including chain, positional and functional group isomerism
be able to recognize and predict the existence of stereoisomerism , including geometric and optical isomerism

TOPIC 3 Reaction Mechanisms

The following list is a GUIDE to what you should study in order to be prepared for the Organic test on TOPIC 3. In order to be fully prepared you should seek help if required, refer to the relevant chapter in the textbook and review ALL relevant notes, homeworks, worksheets, classwork and other materials

ALL students should;

recall the following reaction mechanisms together with reagents and general conditions for the reactions shown in brackets and similar allied reactions;
- homolytic, free radical substitution (alkanes with chlorine and other halogens)
- heterolytic, electrophilic addition (to alkenes with halogens and hydrogen halides)
- heterolytic, nucleophilic substitution (halogenoalkanes with hydroxide and cyanide ions (S_N1 and S_N2)
- heterolytic, electrophilic substitution (nitration, alkylation and acylation of benzene)
use the convention of a curly arrows to represent movement of electrons

TOPIC 4 Reactions

The following list is a GUIDE to what you should study in order to be prepared for the Organic test on TOPIC 4. In order to be fully prepared you should seek help if required, refer to the relevant chapter in the textbook and review ALL relevant notes, homework, worksheets, classwork and other materials

ALL students should;

1. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the elimination of hydrogen halides from halogenoalkanes
2. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the hydrolysis of halogenoalkanes
3. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the formation of esters from carboxylic acids and alcohols and their subsequent hydrolysis
4. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the oxidation of primary alcohols, via aldehydes, to carboxylic acids and of secondary alcohols to ketones
5. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reduction of carboxylic acids to primary alcohols, via aldehydes, and of ketones to secondary alcohols
6. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the substitution reactions of alkanes with halogens
7. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the addition reactions of alkenes (to include unsymmetrical alkenes and Markovnikov’s rule) with halogens, hydrogen halides and concentrated sulfuric acid
8. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reactions of alcohols with dehydrating agents
9. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reactions of alcohols with halogenating agents
10. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of primary amines with hydrogen ions
11. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of carboxylic acids with halogenating agents
12. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of arenes with nitrating mixture
13. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the of arenes with chloroalkanes and acid chlorides in the presence of anhydrous aluminum chloride
14. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the oxidation of arene alkyl side chains with potassium manganate (VII)
15. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reactions of halogeno-compounds with cyanide ions & ammonia
16. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reactions of halogeno-compounds with magnesium to form Grignard reagents and hence the formation of alcohols and carboxylic acids
17. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of ethanoyl chloride with water, alcohols, ammonia and primary amines
18. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of nitriles towards acid hydrolysis
19. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of nitriles towards reducing agents
20. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of amides with phosphorus(V) oxide
21. be able to recall the reagents and conditions for the reaction of amides with bromine in aqueous alkali

TOPIC 5 Structure Determination

The following list is a GUIDE to what you should study in order to be prepared for the Organic test on TOPIC 5. In order to be fully prepared you should seek help if required, refer to the relevant chapter in the textbook and review ALL relevant notes, homework, worksheets, classwork and other materials

ALL students should;

be able to interpret physical and chemical data to arrive at a structural formula of an organic compound
be able to interpret simple infra-red spectra
be able to interpret simple ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra
be able to interpret simple mass spectra

TOPIC 6 Synthesis

The following list is a GUIDE to what you should study in order to be prepared for the Organic test on TOPIC 6. In order to be fully prepared you should seek help if required, refer to the relevant chapter in the textbook and review ALL relevant notes, homework, worksheets, classwork and other materials

ALL students should;

be able to propose pathways for the synthesis of organic molecules using the reactions in TOPIC 4 above
be able demonstrate familiarity with a range of practical techniques, propose suitable apparatus, conditions and safety precautions used in organic chemistry and to relate them to the reactions in TOPIC 4 above