He was exaggerating. People who are experts on something often think basic knowledge is more basic than it is. And he was definitely referring to knowledge you'd get during your sophomore term, so your "technically" is really a technicality and not really relevant. Calm down buddy.
I've been doing chemistry for over a decade and I still have moments where I see an exercise from a freshman class and draw a blank on how to do it. Like anything worthwhile, mastery of chemistry is imperfect and there will always be gaps.
AFTERWORD: I just realized you're talking about Breaking Bad. Hah. Yes, making phenylacetic acid would be easy.