Category Archives: Post-lecture

(Somewhat) polar C-H bonds

Posted on December 2, 2009 by alan

Today’s activity (ChemActivity 34R) used potential surfaces to assign charges to hydrogen atoms in ethylene and acetylene. The charge trend goes like this (I’ve added ethane for good measure):(least +) H in ethane < H in ethylene < H in… Continue reading →

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Move over Facebook

Posted on December 2, 2009 by alan

The web is a great place to waste, uh, invest one's spare time, assuming one has any time to spare. YouTube, Facebook, they all have their aficianados, but my cousin Arkee, a retired professor at Tel Aviv University, just alerted… Continue reading →

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Notes on epoxides and other Chapter 11 stuff

Posted on November 30, 2009 by alan

A few reflections on the material from Monday morning's lecture.Epoxide ring-opening. First, epoxides can react with strong nucleophiles without adding acid. The strained ring makes the epoxide reactive. These reactions look like SN2 reactions.Second, epoxides can react with much weaker… Continue reading →

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Lecture slides – Mon Nov 23

Posted on November 23, 2009 by alan

Slides from today's lecture can be viewed here.I didn't quite get through everything that I had promised and I'm not taking a straight path through the chapter. If you would like to know what is coming next, here's a list… Continue reading →

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What does SN2 transition state look like?

Posted on November 11, 2009 by alan

The images and data table for the three SN2 transition states shown in lecture today can be viewed here…. Continue reading →

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SN2 kinetics and geometry

Posted on November 9, 2009 by alan

First, if you would like to see the MO pictures that I used in class today, check out last year’s post on back side attack & HOMO-LUMO overlap (Oct 13, 2008).There are also a couple of points that I want… Continue reading →

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Dining in a Looking-Glass Universe

Posted on November 6, 2009 by alan

Pity (or envy) poor Alice. In one book she falls down a rabbit hole. When she gets to her feet, she finds bits of food that demand to be eaten ("Eat me!"). And in the next book she steps through… Continue reading →

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Lecture slides – Fri Nov 6

Posted on November 6, 2009 by alan

Slides from today's lecture can be viewed here.Correction: I was gently informed after lecture that I was wrong about the behavior of CH3CN (acetonitrile) and water. They do mix. I had said they don't. In fact, mixtures of these solvents… Continue reading →

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Lecture slides – Wed, Nov 4

Posted on November 6, 2009 by alan

I didn't use PowerPoint on Wednesday, but I did show potential maps of several simple molecules that represent the functional groups covered in chapter 8. Slides of these potential maps can be viewed here…. Continue reading →

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Lecture slides – Fri Oct 30

Posted on November 2, 2009 by alan

The slides for last Friday's lecture, which covered the last part of Chapter 7 – the stereochemistry of chemical reactions – can be viewed here…. Continue reading →

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