organic chem

not a specific question doubt but a rather general one. to master organic chemistry do i need to know every reaction mechanism on tips ??
its pretty much impossible to remember mechanism of every reaction . for example hydroboration oxidation has a pretty long mechanism but crux is H (or D) from BH3 (or BD3) on more hindered carbon and oh (or od) on the other .

same goes for hydrolysis of ester , having two diff mechanism for acid and base catalysed
i do understand that reactions like pinacol pinacolone rearrangement have to be done by mix of logic and mechanism

iTeachChem Helper•5/31/25, 3:20 PM

@Dexter

iTeachChem Helper•5/31/25, 3:20 PM

Note for OP

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CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:22 PM

Another example is this rxn

rn_image_picker_lib_temp_2ffc880f-f1b1-44c1-ba2f-0f36378a8fe0.jpg

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:22 PM

ik R-NH2 with hno2 will just replace nh2 with n2+

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:23 PM

after this its just removing n2+ and rearranging for most stable carbocation

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:23 PM

so every time i come across this rxn i need to work my way up to R-N2+

Sephrina•5/31/25, 3:23 PM

sabke i dont think so is that imp a general idea would be really good though

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:24 PM

which mechanism are worth remembering

CCorrodedCoffin which mechanism are worth remembering

Sephrina•5/31/25, 3:25 PM

pyqs surf kijiye jo apka repeadetly rxn dikhe unko smaj lo aur bich bich me revise karlo, aur jo kam dikh rhe unka general idea rakho

SSephrina pyqs surf kijiye jo apka repeadetly rxn dikhe unko smaj lo aur bich bich me revi...

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:25 PM

avoiding adv pyqs for now

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:25 PM

eventually as mocks dene hai

CCorrodedCoffin avoiding adv pyqs for now

Sephrina•5/31/25, 3:26 PM

adv ka idea nhi hai utna i wouldnt say here

Sephrina•5/31/25, 3:26 PM

but hn whatever it is pyq base rakho

CCorrodedCoffin so every time i come across this rxn i need to work my way up to R-N2+

Opt•5/31/25, 3:26 PM

Remember that R-NH2 + HNO2 gives R-N2(+)

Opt•5/31/25, 3:27 PM

The mechanism leading up to it is one that's simple enough to get because there's few things you can do in between to get the required product

Opt•5/31/25, 3:27 PM

But one exception

Opt•5/31/25, 3:27 PM

Secondary amines will stop at the -N=N-OH stage

OOpt Secondary amines will stop at the -N=N-OH stage

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:28 PM

yet to cover ig

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:28 PM

amines nahi hua

Opt•5/31/25, 3:28 PM

Because there's no N-H bond

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:29 PM

so the verdict is keeping a balance between both

Opt•5/31/25, 3:29 PM

In general rather than mechanisms per se, (except for some named reactions and ones that are way too crazy to even try and derive), get your fundamentals like curly arrow use and electron transfer down pat

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:31 PM

ok so everytime i get R'-O(18)H + RCOOH i should draw those arrows and get to R'-O(18)-COR

CorrodedCoffinOP•5/31/25, 3:31 PM

and not jump to it directly

Opt•5/31/25, 3:31 PM

Unless R' is tertiary

Opt•5/31/25, 3:32 PM

Because then carbocation is favoured more

Opt•5/31/25, 3:32 PM

Iirc

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:36 PM

You indeed can understand most of the mechanisms in jee level organic chemistry but yeah sometimes when it starts to get too complicated you can indeed leave it and skip ahead
Mechanisms favouring a particular type of product (regioselectivity) and the mechanisms involving some form of "rearrangement" are kind of a must to remember I'd say

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:36 PM

Apart from that, knowing SN1/SN2/E1/E2 and some aromatic substitutions will suffice for most of your purposes

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:38 PM

Having a general idea of how to identify electrophiles and nucleophiles and using that to predict where electrons flow is all that's required

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:39 PM

And that comes with practice
Seeing a lot of reactions and trying to roughly sketch mechanisms of them (most of them!)

OOpt In general rather than mechanisms per se, (except for some named reactions and o...

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:39 PM

Curly arrows is what forms mechanisms though

VVarun_Arora Curly arrows is what forms mechanisms though

Opt•5/31/25, 4:40 PM

Yeah, but you can figure out a lot of where those are supposed to go from things like potential differences and electron densities. That's what I meant.

OOpt Yeah, but you can figure out a lot of where those are supposed to go from things...

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:44 PM

Hmm I guess I'd agree

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:44 PM

Potential differences though?

Varun_Arora•5/31/25, 4:44 PM

Didn't get what you mean by that?

VVarun_Arora Potential differences though?

Opt•5/31/25, 5:54 PM

Eh, I tend to end up using physics logic a lot of times. Greater the electron density, greater the electric potential, so more repulsion, electrons moving to a different region is more probable.