A truly good Friday

So, in organic chemistry, I'm paying attention to the lecture when I realize that I'm starting to get confused because he is showing us the same thing over and over again, and I'm wondering if there's something important that I'm missing. So, I'm paying even more attention to the lecture, when I begin to wonder if the reason it sounds the same to me, that all the reaction models he throws up on the board are the same, is because I actually understand the concepts.

Well, he throws up a particularly hairy-looking reaction and proceeds to show us how it happens. Without telling us a thing, he starts banging around in the fume hood in the lecture room, knocking over things, picking things up, and then balancing a box precariously on his hand (a big box). He sets the items on the desk, and then shows us that "size matters in a reaction". He holds up each of the objects to flourine, chlorine, and bromine, the objects getting bigger as the atom gets bigger, until he holds the box right up to the atom we're talking about (mercury, which I might add is very electron poor) and exclaims that it is a honkin' big atom. He then takes the box over to his two "carbons" that represents our reactant, and smashes the box down on top of the carbons and asks, "How is the water molecule (demonstrated by a weirdly folded tissue he named Casper) supposed to get in to donate electrons?" And I said to myself, "Self, the only way that water is going to get in is through the bottom." Which is what he pointed out.

I know none of this may make much sense, but I had to write it down somewhere. That demonstration of size with a 22.4 L wooden box answered a question I had on why some compounds form triangles (called epoxides). It was a big "Ah ha!" moment for me. On top of that, I talked to my friend as we were walking out of class, and she agreed that all the reactions he puts up are the same to her. She said that she just goes with what he keeps telling us, over and over, "Look for the electron-rich and electron-poor sites, and push your electrons" and that's what she does. It made me feel better becuase that meant that I was understanding what he was showing us. (Remember: Structure confers reactivity)

So, it's been a good Friday. I know now that I understand what's going on (forget Markonikov, that's so confusing), I understand how to push my electrons to predict a reaction--I just need to practice so that I'll be more than ready for the test--and I know that size does matter. Two crumpled up pieces of paper are going to get squished by a big box.

That's all folks! Well. . .for now. . . .