[davidenarb]

Hi all,

I am a chemistry major student, and orgo is my favorite subject. I LOVE IT. I want to study organic chemistry in advance, and I have an organic chemistry textbook that I found it really understandable, and it makes orgo so much fun because simply I am UNDERSTANDING it with this textbook. However, this textbook is not the one that is required in my orgo classes. The professor required another one. So, when I compare both of the textbooks, I found that both textbooks contains the same chapters.

Here's the tricky part: in some reactions, for example, one textbook use HCL and the other one uses H2SO4. one uses H3O+ and the other one uses H2O. Also, it uses, for instance, Na instead of Li, and some other small details.  Of course the main reagent is the same.

This makes me a little apprehensive because I am wondering just in case the Prof want to see the EXACT reagents !

Also, there are some parts covered in one textbook, but these part are not covered in the other one and vice versa, but these small parts are few.

Again, I would like just to emphasize that the textbook makes orgo easier and understandable in a detail oriented dimension ! So I want really to stick with it.

Obviously, I dislike the idea of using both texts because it will slow down my studying because, as you know, orgo is a hard work and a lengthy learning process.

So, do you think that I can stick with my favorite textbook or I HAVE TO change it?

Please Help. This is really important for me. THANK YOU

[408]

If you really like OChem, you will develop an understanding that these little details are ultimately insignificant in the problem.  This coupled with an understanding of how your prof marks (ie H+ vs H3O+, or HCl vs H2SO4 or whatever triviality) will mean you will do fine.  So learn how works best for you, but make sure you understand how your prof. wants the minor details. 

[Zensation]

Specific compounds in reactions don't matter as much as the mechanism which they bring to the reaction, with the exception of whatever it is you are reacting.

Chemistry is not about memorizing and learning what chemicals make certain reactions happen, but learning about how those chemicals behave in solution and how they can interact with other compounds, and from this, we can gain a deeper understanding of why reactions do what they do.

For your example, HCl, H2SO4, H3O+, H+ , are all used to represent protons in solution, or in other words, acidic solutions. With of course, HCl, and H2SO4 giving specific examples. At first glance you might infer that acids can easily be interchanged, which they can, depending on the reaction conditions, but this is definitely not the case in most reactions. This is why it is important to gain an understanding of the electron and proton transfers behind various reactions so that you can make conclusions about what compounds you can interchange, and which you cannot. With Na and Li metals being exchanged, this is probably because they are both fairly powerful deprotonating agents.

This is why I love chemistry. It's almost like magic. When you understand the mechanisms, the possibilities that open up to you are endless. Very rarely is there ever one specific way to do a reaction, nor is there ever one specific way to synthesize a certain compound. There are millions of ways, many of which have been undiscovered for whatever reason. For instance, new Catalysts get created every day that behave in a ways never before seen, that can open thousands of doors for so many reactions.


I don't think your professor will expect more from you than what they expect/teach. If you are ever in doubt, just ask them. It is good to differentiate between these little details to gain a deeper understanding, because you will be so far ahead of everyone else in the class.

[Dan]

As has been said, if you suggest a reagent that would work you should get the credit.

I would recommend using more than one textbook anyway - you will get a much better understanding of the material.

I used to get a reading list of 3-6 textbooks for every topic when I was an undergraduate, and actually worked from 4 core organic textbooks throughout my degree - the courses were not based on any specific text.

[davidenarb]

Thank you for your advices. 

[Big-Daddy]

I think, also, that there is another benefit to using multiple books/sources of information - on the occasions when it is important whether you use HCl or H2SO4 - assuming the reasoning for why is not yet known to you as you haven't understood that bit fully yet - you will be able to cross-check the reagents from across all the books, notice that for once they all agree on the reagent to use, and then ask "Hmm ... Why don't any of them go for the other one?" which I have personally found to be itself a good way of improving understanding (not to mention improving accuracy of your answers).