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MCAT Organic Chemistry
A brief overview of the subjects tackled by the MCAT
23
Organic Chemistry
Undergraduate 2
01/14/2010

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Cards

Term
Which is a weaker bond: pi or sigma?
Definition
Pi bond since they are side-by-side overlapping of orbitals. sigma bonds have maximum overlap creating a stronger bond.
Term
What is the approximate O-C-O bond angle in the ester functional group?
Definition

120 degrees

 

  R-C-OR

ll

O

Term
Excluding stereoisomers, how many mono-brominated compounds can be made from 2,5-dimethylhexane?
Definition
3
Term
What must happen for a molecule to have chirality?
Definition
It must have asymmetric carbons (chiral centers) without an internal mirror image. Compounds with an internal mirror image are meso compounds.
Term
How do enantiomers differ chemically?
Definition
They have all of the same physical properties except that they rotate plane-polarized light in opposite directions (optically active) and interact with specific enzymes differently.
Term
What is a diastereomer?
Definition
Stereoisomers that are not mirror images.
Term
What is an enantiomer?
Definition
Stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other.
Term
What are stereoisomers?
Definition
Isomers that have the same connectivity but differ in the arrangement of their atoms in space.
Term
What are constitutional isomers?
Definition
Isomers whose atoms have a different connectivity.
Term
What are isomers?
Definition
Different compounds with the same molecular formula.
Term
What direction does the r configuration take priority?
Definition
clockwise
Term
What direction does the s configuration take priority?
Definition
counterclockwise
Term
How can you tell that you have a meso compound?
Definition
There happens to be a mirror image down the center of the molecule. Adjacent carbons can have the same substituents with different configuration.
Term
What does levorotatory mean? Dextrorotatory?
Definition
Levorotatory means that the compound rotates plane polarized light to the left. Dextrorotatory rotates the plane polarized light to the right.
Term
What does racemic mean?
Definition
There are equal concentrations of both mixtures of R and S configurations of the molecule.
Term
A solution of 200mg of the R enantiomer of a substance had an observed rotation of a=8 degrees. If 50mg of the S enantiomer of the substance is dissolved into the same solution, the new observed rotation that would be measured would be: A. -8 degrees, B. -2 degrees, C. 6 degrees, D. 4 degrees?
Definition
C
Term
What is a stronger acid and why: Phenol or a carboxylic acid?
Definition
Carboxylic acids are stronger acids since although both compounds have resonance stabilized conjugate bases, the phenol conjugate base requires the aromaticity of the phenol ring to be broken which is not as favorable as the identical resonance structures that the carboxylic acid conjugate base creates.
Term
Which creates the strongest acid: tertbutanol, butanol, or secbutanol?
Definition
Tertbutanol since the inductive effects of the three methyl groups cause a slightly greater stabilization effect of the conjugate base.
Term
Which is the strongest base? Ammonia, primary amines or secondary amines?
Definition
Secondary amines because the carbon alkyl groups act as electron donors and thereby stabilize the conjugate acid.
Term
Why are alkynes more acidic than alkenes and alkanes?
Definition
Alkynes have sp hybridization on the terminal carbon. The resultant negative charge is thus more tightly held due to the greater s character of the hybridization. The great electron density present in the tripple bond also creates sort of an electron-withrawing/inductive effect. Resonance plays no role in its acidity.
Term
What is more stable, a highly substituted alkene or the same alkene with only hydrogen substituents?
Definition
The more highly substituted alkene gives off the lowest heat of hydrogenation and therefore is more stable.
Term
How many electrons does an aromatic ring have?
Definition
4n+2 electrons in pi orbitals
Term
What does a Tollen's reagent tell us?
Definition
The Ag+ becomes reduced to elemental silver in the presence of reducing sugar to yield a silver "mirror". If the sugar is non-reducing, no silver comes out of solution and we can conclude that it is a polysaccharide or includes an ether.
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