Thursday, 27 March 2008

NAUSEANT


I thought I've already seen the worst in Analytical Chemistry.

But, as it's been said, one mountain always got one mountain higher.


Organic Chemistry. Alpha-substitution. Alpha-halogenation. Alpha-alkylation. Aldol addition. Aldol condensation. Clasien-type addition. Micheal reaction. Stork Enamine Reaction. Biological Carbonyl addition. Robinson Annulation reaction. Dieckman cyclisation. Malonic ester synthesis. O-alkylation. C-alkylation. E-enolate. Z-enolate. Gilman reagent. Grignard reagent. Williamson Ether synthesis. Organometallic reactions. Permanganate oxidation. Periodic Acid oxidation. Ozonolysis. Hammond Postulate. Oxymercuration. Hydroboration. Halohydrin formation. Simmons-Smith reaction. Alcohol protection-deprotection. Hell-Volhard-Zelinskii bromination. Friedel-Crafts acylation. Diorganocopper reaction. Regioselectivity. Chemoselectivity. pKa. Hard acid. Soft acid. Hard base. Soft base. Strong reducing agents. Weak reducing agents. Strong oxidizing agents. Weak oxidizing agents. DIBAH. LDA. Regioselective deprotonations. Steric effects. Electrostatic effects. Cyclic ketone enolate formation. Acyclic ketone enolate formation. 250 degree Celcius. -78 degree Celcius.

Starting materials. Reactants. Catalysts. Reaction conditions. Reaction mechanism. Reagent sensitivity. Which acidic proton to extract first. Which nucleophile attacks first. Which functional group gets attacked first. Electron-withdrawing. Electron-donating. Resonance stabilization. Temperature. Pressure. pH. Rate of reaction. Fast. Slow. Side products. Major product. Minor product(s).




What the banana.


One word. Siao.


And it's so painful whenever my lecturer goes, "Isn't this just so fascinating? The way how everything works?". And he wasn't even trying to be funny. That man totally LOVES it wholeheartedly. I - and almost everyone else - feel so thoroughly grossed out.


Finals are really coming.


Till then.

No comments: