The videos on organic chemistry fall into five areas: organic 1, organic 2, additional topics, problem sets, and reactions from the literature. A complete list of all playlists can be downloaded as a pdf.
organic 1
Your instructor might include different topics in your organic 1 course.
- organic chemistry review
valence electrons, effective nuclear charge, periodic table trends, electronegativity, octet rule, formal charges - hybridization
hybrid orbitals, bond angles & atomic geometry, examples of different hybridizations, drawing hybrid atoms, hybridization flaws - structure
Lewis dot structure, constitutional isomers, condensed structural formulas, line-angle structures, converting structure types - bonding
orbital energy diagrams, bond formation, sigma bonds, pi bonds, orbital pictures of simple molecules - functional groups
hydrocarbons, R-groups, alkyl groups, benzene rings, alcohols, amines, carbonyls, acid derivatives - introductory nomenclature
naming rules, alkanes, alkyl groups, haloalkanes, alkenes, alkynes, cycloalkanes - intermediate nomenclature
naming ethers and alkoxy groups, branched alkyl groups, aldehydes and ketones, and acid derivatives - acid-base reactions
pKa values, pKa tables, factors that affect acidity, reaction mechanism - charge stabilization
atomic size, electronegativity, resonance, examples of resonance, inductive effect, hybridization, hyperconjugation - conformational analysis
molecular flexibility, Newman projects of alkanes, chair conformations of cyclohexanes, chair flipping, barriers to alkene rotation - introductory stereochemistry
chirality, Cahn-Ingold-Prelog rules, drawing and naming stereocenters, enantiomers, diastereomers, meso compounds, alkene configuration - intermediate stereochemistry
phantom atoms, naming molecules with multiple stereocenters - reaction energy
bonding energy, conformational energy, reaction coordinate diagrams, transition states, intermediates of carbon, stability trends in carbanions and carbocations - reaction types
substitutions, eliminations, additions - alkyl halide substitutions and eliminations
types of halides, SN2 inversion, E2 regioselectivity, E2 bases, discerning between SN2 and E2, SN1 solvolysis, SN1 stereochemistry, hydride shifts, E1, discerning SN1 and E1 - alcohol substitutions and eliminations
alcohols as leaving groups, substitutions with HX, tosylates and mesylates, alcohol solvolysis, alcohol eliminations - sample substitution and elimination problems
reaction triangles, SN2 problems, E2 problems, SN1 problems, E1 problems - alkene additions
addition of H-X, carbocation rearrangements, hydration, hydrogenation, dihalogenation, halohydrins, epoxidation, epoxide opening - sample addition reaction problems
cyclic alkene additions, terminal alkene hydration, anti additions, halonium ion chemistry - introductory NMR spectroscopy
NMR terminology, chemical shift, peak multiplicity, peak integration, using NMR to distinguish between multiple problems - aromaticity and resonance
aromatic stability, Huckel’s rules, aromatic or aliphatic, aromatic ions - electrophilic aromatic substitution
EAS mechanism, halogenation, nitration, aniline synthesis, Friedel-Crafts alkylation, Friedel-Crafts acylation, Clemmensen reduction, Wolff-Kischner reduction - formation and reaction of alkoxides
alcohol deprotonation, solvents for alkoxides, Williamson ether synthesis, E2 reactions with alkoxide bases - alkyne chemistry
differences between alkenes and alkynes, reduction of alkynes, deprotonation to make acetylides, acetylide alkylations - organometallic reagents
synthesis of organometallics, Grignard reagents, organolithium reagents, other types of organometallics - introductory carbonyl chemistry
synthesis of organometallics, Grignard reagents, organolithium reagents, other types of organometallics - nucleophilic additions on carbonyls
hydride reagents, organometallic additions, hydride additions - enolate chemistry
bases for making enolates, LDA as a base, enolate alkylation, kinetic and thermodynamic enolates, aldol reaction, aldol condensation, unsaturated ketones - acid derivatives
types of acid derivatives, acid derivative interconversion, synthesis of carboxylic acids, acid chlorides, esters, amides, nitrile synthesis, acid derivative hydrolysis, reaction mechanism - nucleophilic additions on acid derivatives
additions to carboxylic acids, ester, amide, and nitrile additions, reactions of CO2, example problems
organic 2
Your instructor might include different topics in your organic 2 course.
- advanced alkyl halide reactions
nucleophile polarizability, SN2 inversion, phenacyl effect, anti elimination, alkyl shifts - reaction kinetics
rate equations, reaction order, reaction mechanism - radical reactions
homolytic bond cleavage, radical stability, initiation, propagation, termination, radical halogenation - ether chemistry
ether synthesis, ether cleavage, benzyl ethers, THP ethers, protecting groups - advanced alkene additions
hydroboration-oxidation, alkyne hydration, keto-enol tautomerization, dihydroxylation, oxidative cleavage, radical addition of H-X - EAS regioselectivity
ortho, meta, and para positions, resonance, electron-donating groups, electron-withdrawing groups, halogens as directing groups - diazonium ion chemistry
anilines, diazonium ions, reactions of diazonium ions, azo dyes - nucleophilic aromatic substitutions
SNAr mechanism, types of substitutions, SNAr scope, types of aromatic rings, carbonyl analogy - cycloaddition chemistry
Diels-Alder cycloaddition, regioselectivity, diene and dienophile stereochemistry, end effect, 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions - cross-coupling reactions
palladium catalytic cycle, Negishi coupling, Stille coupling, Suzuki coupling, Sonogashira coupling, Buchwald-Hartwig coupling - acetals, ketals, and enols
acetals, ketals, acetal mechanism, protecting groups, tautomers, ketone halogenation - acid derivative enolates
ester enolates, Claisen condensation, transestification, acetoacetic ester synthesis, Dieckmann condensation, amide enolates, nitrile enolates - amines, imines, and enamines
types of amines, amine synthesis, imine formation mechanism, reductive amination, enamine formation mechanism, Stork enamine alkylation, enamine acylation, amide reduction - Wittig reaction
organophosphorous functional groups, phosphine nucleophilicity, Wittig reaction, Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction - Michael addition
Michael addition, Michael acceptors, Michael donors, Robinson annulation - polymer chemistry
addition polymers, cationic, anionic, and radical polymerization, condensation polymers, polyesters, polyamides, polycarbonates, resin identification codes - molecular orbital theory and modeling
MO theory, hybridization, output files, frontier molecular orbitals, Huckel theory
additional organic content
These playlists include material that many instructors might include in their classes but I do not cover in mine. Some of this content might be considered advanced material.
- No additional problem set videos have been created (yet).
problem sets
This single playlist provides video solutions to problem sets that are available on this site.
- No additional problem set videos have been created (yet).
reactions in the literature
This single playlist highlights examples of literature reactions that are commonly seen in undergraduate organic chemistry classes. All these videos are 5-minutes or shorter.
- reactions from the literature
reactions related to content in organic 1 and organic 2