All it takes is two words - two words, one subject, a million mechanisms, and an infinite amount of panic attacks - to instill fear and panic into the souls of each and every STEM major: Organic Chemistry.
We all hear the horror stories prior to making it into the class. "Oh, it's incredibly difficult!" and a sarcastic "You're gonna have a great time," were two of the expressions I received when I asked upperclassmen if the horror stories about the course were true. And who would've guessed that former students of the course would be correct? Because they were not kidding in the slightest.
One of the most common complaints that most orgo students share is the incredible spike in difficulty seen in questions between lecture and homework versus what appears on an exam. To explain this, let's take a look at a relatively simple reaction mechanism (which shows the step-by-step procedure and electron flow of a reaction): the benzyne reaction, which follows the dehydrohalogenation of an aryl halide to produce a new substituted product:
To non-orgo students, I'm sure this looks like complete and utter nonsense: why do things flow in? Why do they flow out? Is carbon even allowed to form three bonds like it does in the second step? But, for most orgo students, a simple benzyne reaction like this is quick and simple to complete, usually without hassle. But let's consider a more complex molecule, such as this one:
Sorry, did I say which one? Maybe saying "such as one of these five" would be a more accurate statement, considering that not ALL of these will successfully react as described above. And it's up to organic chemistry students to look at these relatively similar structures and determine which ones even have the potential to react in the manner desired (For those curious, Roman numeral II is unable to react in this manner, as it lacks a hydrogen that is ortho (or directly next to on an adjacent carbon) to the leaving group (in this case, fluorine.)). And as if that wasn't enough fun, this particular question then asks you, of those reacting structures, which one(s) will produce a very specific mixture of compounds. Maybe it's only I? Maybe IV and V? That's the onus of the student to figure out. This, and many, many more reaction mechanisms.
When it comes down to it, organic chemistry is a very interesting course with very real consequence for not taking an initiative while you still could. Considering that organic chemistry is responsible for pretty much everything around us at any given moment, you would think that more people would be excited to learn about it! But, unfortunately, the millions of intricacies, hundreds of mechanisms, and countless reagent combinations make this course one that has certainly earned its scarlet letter in the STEM community, Is it possible to overcome the endless hurdles and merciless content this course has to offer? Well, of course it is - many have before and may will after. But it's truly about how far you are willing to go - how hard will you push yourself to achieve such a feat? By far, organic chemistry is the Mount Everest of science courses, but just like with Everest, orgo can be conquered with proper preparation, the sharpest of minds, and an initiative to prove to yourself, and the world, that you have what it takes to hang with the content that puts the rest to shame.
