Saying What You Mean: Teaching Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry

Organic reactions in introductory organic chemistry courses are most commonly taught with a mechanism-based approach to the understanding of molecular reactivity. However, the effectiveness of the popular curved arrow representation to describe reaction mechanisms is often compromised by the overuse of shortcuts and obscure notation. The consistent use of balanced reaction equations, a concept that most students have learned and practiced in previous chemistry courses, is an effective technique in communicating reaction mechanisms. Other ways to introduce clarity and consistency to reaction mechanisms are: (i) avoiding the use of shortcut notations, (ii) including key electrons and bonds in structural representations, and (iii) distinguishing between covalent and ionic bonds. (Contains 2 notes.)