Acid base chemistry is the quiet engine behind organic reactions. Before a nucleophile attacks, before a leaving group leaves, before a carbon-carbon bond forms, a proton often moves first. If that proton transfer is favorable, the rest of the mechanism may work. If it is not, the reaction may stall. The best shortcut for predicting these moves is pKa. A pKa value tells how strongly a compound wants to give up a proton. Low pKa means a strong acid. High pKa means a weak acid.

Dear Students, It was a pleasure working with you all during our first lab session. Well done on completing Lab 1! I've received a common question from many of you across all seven sections: "How do we prepare the pre-lab?" and "How to write the Lab procedures while performing experiments?" In General Chemistry, you were trained to write objectives and procedures before attending the lab. However, Organic Chemistry lab has different expectations. These are outlined in the lab