Organic Chemistry II as a Second Language: Second Semester Topics,   ISBN:9780471738084

Customer Rating: 

----- READ FIRST ------
If you are taking the class, or planning to take the class, I think you will be better off reading from THIS BOOK as the PRIMARY resource, and your TEXTBOOK as your SECONDARY resource.
-----------------------

I took my second semester of Organic Chemistry last semester, but didn't get such good grades. I was distraught at my poor performance that I just HAD to learn myself the subject again, especially because my major was so grounded on science. During class, we would learn mechanisms after mechanisms, but all I could do (possibly due to my laziness to study very deeply) was to memorize reactions after reactions.

This was my mistake. There was a limit to how much I could memorize without grasping the fundamentals of why reactions take place. During class, we would be taught about mechanisms of the reactions, but it was my fault for not paying much attention to those. Big mistake. That is definitely a big no-no in Orgo II unless you have the perfect memory that would allow you to easily memorize all reactions that you are supposed to know.

But after I purchased this book, I found myself paying much attention to the mechanisms, and trust me, it was so much more interesting than just memorizing reagents, catalysts here and there, and products.

This book is so organized, and presents the mechanisms of reactions so thoroughly and in a fun way. I'm considering retaking Orgo II, now that I have a much much much deeper understanding of Organic Chemistry, and thus I'm confident I will get an A if I do so. This is because I learned that organic chemistry is much more fun when you can UNDERSTAND.

----- EXTRA NOTE ------
If you are considering to take Biochemistry, I heard that if you do not understand organic chemistry well enough, this class will be mainly rote memorization. And again, rote memorization makes the subject extremely dull, and you will be better off trying to understand the mechanisms and concepts rather than trying to memorize them. Therefore, if you don't have a good ground on the fundamentals of organic chemistry, I suggest that you get this book and study from it. This book is so much smaller than typical textbooks, but very thorough in laying out the fundamental mechanisms that will, not just help you, but MAKE you understand.

Customer Rating: 

This supplement focuses on the sometimes alien and 'where the hell did that come from' reactions we can give to reaction mechanisms at times and clearing up the mess the main billion dollar textbooks simply couldn't get across without adding $200 more to the price tag. It was said that the advent of the reaction mechanism helped to minimize the amount of 'memorization' of reactions that occurred, so that students could apply their knowledge of the basic reactions to examples where they hide the basic functional groups, hiding acetals, hiding hemi-acetals in rings, etc. but it seems ineffective. In some ways, they have promoted a new breed of memorization by making there be less individual reactions to know, but never really EXPLAINING the mechanism in a way that could help the student develop and evolve a problem solving strategy/method. Add to this problems that are too easy, then jump to being too hard, having answer keys that do problems wrong, and don't focus on the bigger picture (especially on competing functional groups within a molecule, determining where the H+ will protonate, etc.) and that few hundred you shelled out for that big fancy OChem. book seems more and more like a waste every day.

After nose-diving my own grade in a summer class test on organometallic, ketone, and aldehyde reactions (arguably, the most struggled with material of the semester by many students because of the sheer number of small details and reactions presented)-- also, I had a whopping eight days between 'this is an organometallic' and 'so ketones and aldehydes do this' and 'here's you're exam' so, it was a bit tougher to master than had I been in a normal semester-- I had sought an aid to help rescue my grade to better reflect the effort I have been placing into this $800 semester. My professor recommended a book known as 'Pushing Electrons' which focuses on mechanisms, but I found it to take an approach similar to my textbook. I happened upon this page, was delighted to see the book was split up by semesters, hoping the split would allow for better focus on the nitty gritty of carboxylic acids, derivatives of carboxylic acids, aromatics, etc. and immediately ran out to the store to grab it.

Now, by no means am I too stupid for this class, I just can't work with the approach my professor, or the book take to this second semester. My interests and strengths lie in equations and formulae, which organic is about as void of as a stereotypical desert is of water so I really wasn't finding much in the class that appealed to my strengths. I managed an A in the first semester and ripped right through spectroscopy, but landed square on my face in the ketone/aldehyde chapter. I practically long for inorganic and physical chemistry nowadays. So, anyways, taking the aforementioned into account, I am simply looking for a way to better relate the material to my own needs as a student (looking for a practical methodology for tackling these problems starting with the basics and culminating in a problem set that spans from the easy ones to get you understanding the mechanisms and then later throwing hard ones at you to really test your mastering).

Current subjects for the next test include carboxylic acids, their derivatives, and the return of enol and enolates, etc. So, here is where my evaluation would truly begin.

Carboxylic acids themselves (preparation of and reactions of) are not separated into their own chapter like you may find in most textbooks, in fact, these guys are basically crammed into the last bit of the chapter on the derivatives, with the Fischer Esterification being the transition from derivative to carb acid reactions. The beginning of this chapter presents you with a 'golden rule' for nucleophilic attacks on carbonyls (you actually learn this in the ketone/ aldehyde chapter) and this golden rule truly is a work of genius. Using this simple rule, which simply outlines a basic 'thought process' for your mechanisms, then providing you the theory to competently go about writing accurate mechanisms, this supplement brought a new level of understanding for me to these mechanisms. This rule is presented in such a way that parallels the equation y=mx+b in understanding lines--without it, you are simply memorizing relationships and patterns, and some may do fine like this, but if you are like me... yikes.

This one rule was applied and demonstrated time and time again to not only get you to be able to switch between the derivatives, but perform EVERY reaction they can do (some reactions in your textbook may be missing from here, but that's the point... it works elsewhere as well) and they explain 'cross-over' reactions where you go between carboxylic acids (and derivatives) and ketones/aldehydes well too.

As a strategy, I've employed reading and studying this supplement and using it to gain familiarity with the subject material before attending class. This way I can focus on the actual chemistry going on and not busying my brain with remembering every detail of every mechanism. As far as this rule goes (just this chapter), you won't need to memorize a single fully drawn mechanism, only where to attack, what attacks, and if you need to (de)protonate--you know, the stuff your OChem teacher actually wanted you to know.

This book is a perfect complement to texts that cut back on their mechanism budget to load up on excessive molecular models in the early chapters and such and for those of you who are more equation-learning based who need to gather from a source a collection of tips and tricks that develop an actual problem solving technique instead of lulling you into the 'memorization' deathtrap. This of course, by consequence of the aforementioned statement, means that the book gears itself towards helping the student perform well on exams laden with synthesis after synthesis by being able to navigate each reaction clearly without getting lost in the amalgam of reagents and byproducts.

Customer Rating: 

I ordered this product roughly a month ago and not only did it arrive a week after the latest date, but also the condition in which it arrived was very, very poor. The book was heavily damaged by water and the packaging looked like it had been dropped in a puddle. I do not know if the seller is to blame for the poor condition with which it was handled, but one thing is for sure: you get what you paid for. The seller, in this case, neglected fair quality media mail handling and assumedly chose a poorer method of delivery. This product is the one to buy if you would like to have a late package delivered in terrible conditions.

Customer Rating: 

I absolutely loved the Organic Chemistry II Review Book, it was a great way to pull together all of the concepts that I had learned throughout the course for my cummulative final. It really focused on the ideas behind the reactions, so less technical memorization was needed. Each chapter started off slow in order to introduce the main concept, then details were brought in. The language was easy to understand and many analogies were used to help memorize reactions.

I wish I had bought it earlier in the semester!

Customer Rating: 

this book and vol 1 are great to have as a supplement to regular ochem texts. it breaks it down & simplifies...always a plus especially in chem. i recommend.