If Organic Chemistry seems challenging to learn, you are going the wrong way. Memorising reactions one after another will lead you nowhere. Students must understand that Organic Chemistry is like a storybook where every character has a background story, and if you try to pick up from the middle or skip a few pages, you are bound to feel lost. However, when you follow the plot from the beginning, it all makes sense and gets interesting.
Organic Chemistry is the most logical section of Chemistry, which makes it easy. It requires very little memorisation to acing it. It would help if you remembered less and applied more. Make your journey easier and quicker with the following six ways to learn Organic Chemistry. The applications of Organic Chemistry are vast and span agrochemistry, medicine, food science, cosmetics, and cutting-edge technologies. Kickstart your journey by mastering the subject while preparing for board exams and nail your upcoming NEET and JEE exams.
Start from Organic Chemistry Fundamental Concepts
Organic Chemistry covered in the 11th and 12th standard books is crucial for advancing further in the subject. Students must begin with NCERT books for classes 11 and 12 to learn and understand extremely important concepts for their NEET and other competitive exam preparation.
Begin with Class 11 NCERT taking help from NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Chemistry, and advance to NCERT for Class 12. Make sure you are well-versed with these books, such as Organic Chemistry by O.P. Tandon and Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyd.
Also, follow the sequence of the chapters while concentrating on the mechanisms. Students tend to skip the early chapters of the material because they cover the background or are easy. However, following this approach, you would jump into the study material you won’t understand.
Organic Chemistry can easily be compared to a pyramid – the top portion would collapse without a strong foundation. So, even if you are running short on time, go back and begin with the introductory chapters if you haven’t studied them with the utmost attention. Students who follow this strategy grasp the most challenging topics surprisingly better once they completely understand the easier bit.
Derive standard name reaction mechanisms of organic chemistry
A firm grip on the standard name reactions of Organic Chemistry makes the entire subject easy and quickens the learning pace. Students must try and work out mechanisms of name reactions such as Aldol condensation, Sandmeyer, Schotten Baumann, Stephen, Wolf Kishner, and others. You can derive the reactions implementing basic facts such as intramolecular reactions are faster than intermolecular ones, neutralisation concepts, distillation, and more.
Often students are asked to choose a reaction mechanism depending on the given products in competitive exams like NEET. So, if you have practised these mechanisms, such questions will be a piece of cake.
Practice Organic Chemistry conversions
Once you are thorough with the name reactions and fundamental Chemistry concepts, move on to practising conversions. Sequentially attaining the final product further allows students to explore the mechanisms and adopt an understanding approach rather than rote memorisation. For instance, the conversion of ethylamine to methylamine is a long process including several intermediate steps, as shown below:
- CH3CH2-NH → CH3 CH2OH (in the presence of HNO2)
- CH3 CH2OH → CH3COOH (in the presence of O)
- CH3COOH → CH4 (in the presence of NaOH and CaO)
- CH4 → Ch3Cl (in the presence of Cl2 and hv)
- CH3Cl → CH3OH (in the presence of KOH)
Students must practise important conversions and figure out their mechanisms. Some conversions for practice are as follows:
- Acetamide to methylamine
- Acetaldehyde to isopropyl alcohol
- Acetic acid to methyl cyanide
- Ethanoic acid to ethylamine
- Formic acid to oxalic acid
Tricks for Organic Chemistry conversions:
- Haloalkanes can give almost all functional groups. They allow you to increase the chain size. So, converting your initial material to haloalkanes can help reach the desired product.
- Keep in mind the oxidation/reduction series: Hydrocarbons → alcohols → carbonyl compounds → carboxylic acids (on oxidation).
- KMnO4 and K2Cr2O7 are strong oxidising agents. Mild oxidising agents are CrO4, Fehling’s solution, ammoniacal AgNO3, Benedict’s solution, Bromine water, and Cu or CuO at 573K.
- Hydrolysis converts any carboxylic acid derivative back to carboxylic acid.
- If you begin with alkane, free-radical halogenation is the most commonly used reaction.
- Keep in mind Saytzeff/Markovnikov’s rules when dealing with alkenes.
- Using Grignard reagent will give an Alkyl nucleophile to be used at appropriate places.
Using Visual Aids to Study
While studying Organic Chemistry, you will come across several reagents. While some are reducing agents such as LiAlH4, some are oxidising agents like O3, and some are dehydrating like concentrated H2SO4. Students must know what each reagent does, prepare a list, and remember them.
Preparing a list of reactions of a specific class of compounds, conversions, and reagents and classifying them helps master organic chemistry quickly. However, it is important to do so by yourself. Create a separate list for each topic as it makes the revision process easier and quicker.
The weightage of Organic Chemistry is approximately 11% in the JEE Main Exam and 33% for the NEET Exam. So, students must resort to deeper understanding techniques that ensure long-term retention. They must understand that the best method is not always the quickest one.
Memorise less, understand more
Often students prefer memorising concepts and reactions. They fail to realise that memorising does not ensure long-term retention of a concept. While it can be helpful to memorise some functional groups and nomenclature, it is impossible to memorise everything. This habit lands a student in trouble when they are used to adopting memorisation techniques. It is almost impossible to study Organic Chemistry and score high marks without understanding the topics at a deeper level. Students can refer to online tutorial videos on Youtube of complicated concepts to understand them better.
Study with partners
One of the quickest ways to learn Organic Chemistry is to study with friends. You will be surprised at your pace and understanding of a concept when explaining it to others. Self-study need not always be in isolation. It is worthwhile to share your ideas with your study partner and learn from their insights. Getting together with your fellow partners is a great way to revise Organic Chemistry as well. It helps you with topics you’re struggling with and allows you to develop a stronger grasp on the concepts you already know by discussing and explaining them to others.
Some Important Topics from Organic Chemistry
Here are some important concepts that every student must keep in mind when studying Organic Chemistry.
The stability criteria is an important determiner
Students should be able to recognize which out of two or more forms is more stable than the rest. They can easily recognize the stable forms by practising stability comparison problems.
For instance, a rind with n members will be a stable product if n > 4. Check out other stability rules and remember them well.
Neutralisation reactions are the fastest
Acid-base reactions giving salt and water are the quickest reactions, and therefore they occur before any other reaction alternatives. Also, a strong acid will choose to react with a strong base if the option is available.
Intermolecular reactions are slower than intramolecular reactions
Often molecules have acidic and basic sides to them. Whenever a reaction is possible within such a molecule, it results in a stable product. In most cases, there is a possibility of intermolecular reactions, but the mechanism majorly proceeds with intramolecular ones.
A reaction does not follow the regular mechanism where reactants might encounter steric hindrance. For instance, bulky sites of reactants that come close to one another face steric hindrance. It is often observed in intermolecular reactions, but the discussion of the steric effects often focuses on intramolecular interactions. The concept of steric hindrance is also exploited at times to control selectivity. For example, when slowing down, unwanted side reactions are required.
Be thorough with the types of reactions
Organic Chemistry presents the following main types of reactions:
- Substitution: One or more atoms get substituted by another atom/atom to form a new substance. They are of two types: nucleophilic and electrophilic.
- Elimination: Elimination or removal of an adjacent atom/atoms, such as the conversion of ethyl chloride to ethylene, wherein HCl gets eliminated to form the product (ethylene).
- Addition: Atoms come together in a molecule to form the final product. For example, the conversion of ethylene to ethylene chloride by adding HCl.
- Rearrangement: One atom or a group of atoms migrates from an atom to another one in the same or different species to form a structural isomer of the original molecule.
Rate Determining Step
Often competitive exams require candidates to determine the rate-determining step out of a series of given reactions. Students must remember that the slowest step is the RDS.
In addition to the concepts mentioned above, students must not avoid IUPAC Nomenclature, practical Organic Chemistry, biomolecules, polymerisation, isomerisation, and its types, as these can help fetch a lot of marks.
1. How do I begin my Organic Chemistry preparation for an upcoming exam?
Organic chemistry can help you score high marks in the Chemistry section of any exam. Students must follow the following tips to achieve a good result in this section:
1. Review the fundamental concepts before taking a class.
2. Understand the basic theories and chemical reactions and their mechanisms to ensure in-depth learning.
3. Clarify your doubts with a teacher whenever possible.
4. To avoid over-burdening yourself, keep a subject that you find easy along with Organic Chemistry chapters in your study timetable.
2. What are the fundamental elements in Organic Chemistry?
Most organic compounds comprise carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Carbon is the most important element in organic compounds. The various Organic Chemistry fundamentals are based on understanding these elements’ properties and electronic structure. Students must know the properties of carbon and its tendency to form more compounds with other elements to master Organic Chemistry.
3. Which topics are important in Organic Chemistry?
Some of the most important topics in Organic Chemistry are as follows:
1. Oxygen-containing compounds
2. Nitrogen-containing compounds
3. Substitution reactions
4. Tests for detecting organic compounds
6. Carbonyl compounds
7. Aromatic Compounds
4. Does Organic Chemistry contribute to a promising career?
Organic chemistry has numerous opportunities for people in various industries and academia. Its application spans pharmaceuticals, plastics, fuels, fabrics, agriculture, and more. It opens doors to countless options. Organic chemists have a bright future as this scientific field is constantly evolving.
5. Is NCERT good for Organic Chemistry preparation?
The NCERT textbook is the best option for Class 11 and above students to gain precise and complete knowledge of organic chemistry. It uses the most insightful and simple language in its content, allowing students to efficiently figure out solutions to complex problems. The exercises given at the end of each chapter are based on the conceptual knowledge of various topics that promote quick revisions. Students get familiar with the most anticipated questions, and often NCERT questions form a part of the board exam question paper and competitive exams.
Organic Chemistry is simple and easy for those who spend their time strengthening their basic concepts. Referring to the best books while thoroughly practising can help students ace all questions in the Organic Chemistry section. Students must enrol for mock tests and practice via previous years’ question papers to nail their preparation. Find Aakash coaching institute near you to learn from subject experts who have years of experience in the field.