how to prepare for rsc chem olympiad?? chemistry help?
i really enjoy chem and want to do well in the upcoming rsc chemistry olympiad but we haven’t covered most of the content in school yet (im in y12) and i’ve tried teaching myself stuff but it doesn’t like stay in my brain. what’s the best way to prepare for it without a private tutor (bc why are they sooo expensive bro)?
Scroll to see replies
Reply 1
Original post
by yoyoyoyoyoyoyoxi really enjoy chem and want to do well in the upcoming rsc chemistry olympiad but we haven’t covered most of the content in school yet (im in y12) and i’ve tried teaching myself stuff but it doesn’t like stay in my brain. what’s the best way to prepare for it without a private tutor (bc why are they sooo expensive bro)?
How have you attempted to self-teach the material in question? After all, it does tell us what not to advise you to try.
Have you looked at YouTube videos on A level chemistry topics by channels relevant to your exam board? Have you tried past paper questions and if so, have you tried asking someone for help with ones you’ve lost marks on through TSR?
Reply 2
Original post
by TypicalNerdHow have you attempted to self-teach the material in question? After all, it does tell us what not to advise you to try.
Have you looked at YouTube videos on A level chemistry topics by channels relevant to your exam board? Have you tried past paper questions and if so, have you tried asking someone for help with ones you’ve lost marks on through TSR?
Have you looked at YouTube videos on A level chemistry topics by channels relevant to your exam board? Have you tried past paper questions and if so, have you tried asking someone for help with ones you’ve lost marks on through TSR?
ive taught myself most of thermodynamics and some organic but I'm still struggling with organic mechanisms. I've been using the organic chemistry tutor on yt mainly to learn stuff as well as random websites. I haven't done any full papers yet as I'm unable to do the orgchem stuff still but will try soon. I haven't asked for help through TSR yet - thank you for the suggestion!! I will definitely try that soon, thank you!!
Reply 3
Original post
by yoyoyoyoyoyoyoxive taught myself most of thermodynamics and some organic but I'm still struggling with organic mechanisms. I've been using the organic chemistry tutor on yt mainly to learn stuff as well as random websites. I haven't done any full papers yet as I'm unable to do the orgchem stuff still but will try soon. I haven't asked for help through TSR yet - thank you for the suggestion!! I will definitely try that soon, thank you!!
You’ll be pleased to know mechanisms aren’t a huge part of the Olympiad- they did come up as a sort of hint in 2025, but that was about it.
You can absolutely score enough of the marks for a gold without mechanisms, though mechanisms can be helpful for predicting outcomes of reactions in the synthesis tree problems.
I was a round 2 participant in 2022 (i.e. I was within the top 34 nationally in round 1, I believe finishing joint 12th), so I am more than happy to assist in walking you through some past paper questions if necessary.
Reply 4
Original post
by TypicalNerdYou’ll be pleased to know mechanisms aren’t a huge part of the Olympiad- they did come up as a sort of hint in 2025, but that was about it.
You can absolutely score enough of the marks for a gold without mechanisms, though mechanisms can be helpful for predicting outcomes of reactions in the synthesis tree problems.
I was a round 2 participant in 2022 (i.e. I was within the top 34 nationally in round 1, I believe finishing joint 12th), so I am more than happy to assist in walking you through some past paper questions if necessary.
You can absolutely score enough of the marks for a gold without mechanisms, though mechanisms can be helpful for predicting outcomes of reactions in the synthesis tree problems.
I was a round 2 participant in 2022 (i.e. I was within the top 34 nationally in round 1, I believe finishing joint 12th), so I am more than happy to assist in walking you through some past paper questions if necessary.
Hi! I'm hoping to prepare for the Olympiad too, I was wondering how did you go about preparing? Were there any textbooks you used, and how did you use them and ensure you could apply the knowledge in the past papers? Thank you in advance for your time!
Reply 5
Original post
by w12345.hHi! I'm hoping to prepare for the Olympiad too, I was wondering how did you go about preparing? Were there any textbooks you used, and how did you use them and ensure you could apply the knowledge in the past papers? Thank you in advance for your time!
Hi - thanks for asking. Those are some excellent questions.
I’d say the main textbook I used was chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry by Burrows et al. This is a first/second year undergraduate level textbook, but it should be fairly accessible to an A level student - of course reading all of the book in advance is ambitious given how long you have and not necessary. You can also try Clayden’s organic chemistry, but only the first 500 ish pages are within the scope of the competition and generally the book is perhaps overkill for just the sake of the Olympiad (even at round 2). To be honest, you don’t really need any textbooks - you just need to know how to deal with anything from the A level syllabus, a couple of organic reactions beyond the A level spec and unit cells (which the RSC has a reasonably good guide on somewhere - I will find it and attach a link at some point).
There was only one way that I could ensure I knew how to use the knowledge acquired in past papers - to make use of the past papers in question. You can also use questions in chemistry textbooks, but sometimes you require a solutions manual to check your answers and the solutions manuals are often extortionate.
I personally didn’t make use of TSR at the time I did the Olympiad the first time (2022) and was already very comfortable with the content and didn’t really need the help the second time (2023), but I would strongly encourage you to make use of it. There are plenty of olympiad veterans and chemistry enthusiasts on TSR who could give you more than satisfactory explanations of how to solve past paper problems and the underlying chemical concepts.
I personally stuck to the most recent handful of past papers available as anything pre-2017 was (in my opinion) generally simpler than what is asked on the current papers and thus much less reflective of what to expect. That isn’t to say you can’t use the pre-2017 papers in your prep, though they may be nice to cherrypick some questions from in order to get comfortable with some of the basics of answering Olympiad questions.
I hope this has been insightful- feel free to ask further questions as you see fit.
EDIT: the unit cells resource mentioned earlier: https://edu.rsc.org/download?ac=515776
Reply 6
Original post
by TypicalNerdHi - thanks for asking. Those are some excellent questions.
I’d say the main textbook I used was chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry by Burrows et al. This is a first/second year undergraduate level textbook, but it should be fairly accessible to an A level student - of course reading all of the book in advance is ambitious given how long you have and not necessary. You can also try Clayden’s organic chemistry, but only the first 500 ish pages are within the scope of the competition and generally the book is perhaps overkill for just the sake of the Olympiad (even at round 2). To be honest, you don’t really need any textbooks - you just need to know how to deal with anything from the A level syllabus, a couple of organic reactions beyond the A level spec and unit cells (which the RSC has a reasonably good guide on somewhere - I will find it and attach a link at some point).
There was only one way that I could ensure I knew how to use the knowledge acquired in past papers - to make use of the past papers in question. You can also use questions in chemistry textbooks, but sometimes you require a solutions manual to check your answers and the solutions manuals are often extortionate.
I personally didn’t make use of TSR at the time I did the Olympiad the first time (2022) and was already very comfortable with the content and didn’t really need the help the second time (2023), but I would strongly encourage you to make use of it. There are plenty of olympiad veterans and chemistry enthusiasts on TSR who could give you more than satisfactory explanations of how to solve past paper problems and the underlying chemical concepts.
I personally stuck to the most recent handful of past papers available as anything pre-2017 was (in my opinion) generally simpler than what is asked on the current papers and thus much less reflective of what to expect. That isn’t to say you can’t use the pre-2017 papers in your prep, though they may be nice to cherrypick some questions from in order to get comfortable with some of the basics of answering Olympiad questions.
I hope this has been insightful- feel free to ask further questions as you see fit.
EDIT: the unit cells resource mentioned earlier: https://edu.rsc.org/download?ac=515776
I’d say the main textbook I used was chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry by Burrows et al. This is a first/second year undergraduate level textbook, but it should be fairly accessible to an A level student - of course reading all of the book in advance is ambitious given how long you have and not necessary. You can also try Clayden’s organic chemistry, but only the first 500 ish pages are within the scope of the competition and generally the book is perhaps overkill for just the sake of the Olympiad (even at round 2). To be honest, you don’t really need any textbooks - you just need to know how to deal with anything from the A level syllabus, a couple of organic reactions beyond the A level spec and unit cells (which the RSC has a reasonably good guide on somewhere - I will find it and attach a link at some point).
There was only one way that I could ensure I knew how to use the knowledge acquired in past papers - to make use of the past papers in question. You can also use questions in chemistry textbooks, but sometimes you require a solutions manual to check your answers and the solutions manuals are often extortionate.
I personally didn’t make use of TSR at the time I did the Olympiad the first time (2022) and was already very comfortable with the content and didn’t really need the help the second time (2023), but I would strongly encourage you to make use of it. There are plenty of olympiad veterans and chemistry enthusiasts on TSR who could give you more than satisfactory explanations of how to solve past paper problems and the underlying chemical concepts.
I personally stuck to the most recent handful of past papers available as anything pre-2017 was (in my opinion) generally simpler than what is asked on the current papers and thus much less reflective of what to expect. That isn’t to say you can’t use the pre-2017 papers in your prep, though they may be nice to cherrypick some questions from in order to get comfortable with some of the basics of answering Olympiad questions.
I hope this has been insightful- feel free to ask further questions as you see fit.
EDIT: the unit cells resource mentioned earlier: https://edu.rsc.org/download?ac=515776
Thank you so much, this is extremely helpful! The Olympiad is January 28th, given the time between now and then, are there any higher-yield topics you would recommend to look through in these textbooks? (As I know many who rank in the top 30 have started preparing during the summer, so I feel I have started a little late..) Also, you mentioned the few organic reactions outside of the specification, please could you list them so I could have a look? Thank you!!
Reply 7
Original post
by w12345.hThank you so much, this is extremely helpful! The Olympiad is January 28th, given the time between now and then, are there any higher-yield topics you would recommend to look through in these textbooks? (As I know many who rank in the top 30 have started preparing during the summer, so I feel I have started a little late..) Also, you mentioned the few organic reactions outside of the specification, please could you list them so I could have a look? Thank you!!
Unit cells and organic synthesis. Unit cells should be sorted with the link I sent you.
As for organic synthesis, I suggest finding a past paper question (or ideally several), having a go at it and inquiring here should you get stuck.
I’ll look into writing a list, though there’s nothing to stop the Olympiad team including reactions not on said list. I think it would be better if I helped you to learn how to work the products out from hints within the synthesis tree.
Reply 8
Thank you Do you have an example from a question where we could use the synthesis tree?
Do you have an example from a question where we could use the synthesis tree?Reply 9
Original post
by w12345.hThank you Do you have an example from a question where we could use the synthesis tree?
Do you have an example from a question where we could use the synthesis tree?2019 - Question 4, especially parts (b), (e), (f) and (h)
Past paper found here: https://edu.rsc.org/download?ac=515421
Solutions to most parts of this question
Reply 10
Ah, thank you very much - I've worked through most of this. I think it just requires the fundamentals of A-levels mostly, not sure whether it's just this question though! I think I just need to revise resonance, and maybe have a bit more practice on identifying which mechanism it is quicker.
Reply 11
Original post
by w12345.hAh, thank you very much - I've worked through most of this. I think it just requires the fundamentals of A-levels mostly, not sure whether it's just this question though! I think I just need to revise resonance, and maybe have a bit more practice on identifying which mechanism it is quicker.
Fair. I’ll finish the solutions to this question at some point. I personally think this question and 2022 are the most instructive examples of how to work things out from a synthesis tree thus far, but you are right to want to consider looking at more questions and getting as much practice as you can.
Resonance isn’t an A level topic, but it can be looked at mechanistically. In general you want to try pushing one lone pair of electrons (ideally on an atom with a formal -ve charge) and see where that pushes a bonded pair of electrons in a multiple bond. I’d recommend trying this with the 2019 question for the sake of consolidating your understanding.
Reply 12
I realise I didn't ever actually write the list of organic reactions beyond the A level syllabus for this thread (sorry - sidetracked with uni vacation work!). Here it is. It is sorted by the starting organic substrate:
Alkenes/dienes:
Diels-Alder (alkene + diene —> larger alkene)
Cold, dilute KMnO4 in base (forms a diol)
Ozonolysis (forms carbonyl compounds if a mild reductant like SMe2 or Zn is used, or alcohols if a stronger reductant like NaBH4 is used)
Alcohols:
Tosylation (reaction with TsCl, or 1,4-CH3C6H4SO2Cl. Often followed by the addition of a nucleophile to replace the tosylated alcohol)
Anhydrous oxidations (Swern Oxidation, DMP, PCC etc - if your alcohol is primary, this will always form an aldehyde without overoxidation to a carboxylic acid)
Carbonyls:
Grignard reagents/organolithium reagents (usually extends carbon chain and forms an alcohol - can sometimes lead to rearrangements or reductions in a few cases)
Enolisation (in both acid and base - regardless, this is often followed by addition of an electrophile to increase the carbon chain length)
Wittig reaction (reaction with a phosphonium ylide to form an alkene)
Protection (reaction with ethane-1,2-diol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid such as TsOH)
Favorskii rearrangement (reaction of alpha-bromocarbonyls with a suitable base to extrude one carbon from the chain in the form of a carboxylic acid derivative - exactly which carboxylic acid derivative depends on the base chosen)
Halogenation (reactions with Cl2, Br2 and I2 in both acid and base - in basic conditions, halogenation typically goes further and in cases where there is a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl, you get the haloform reaction)
Haloform reaction (reaction of RCOCH3 and Cl2, Br2 or I2 in base to give the corresponding salt of RCOOH and CHCl3, CHBr3 or CHI3, depending on which halogen you have used)
Arenes:
Diazotisation (use of HNO2 or NaNO2/HCl to convert aryl amines to diazonium salts)
SNAr (reactions of nucleophiles with halogenated arenes containing electron withdrawing groups like -CN or -NO2 ortho or para to the halogen)
Alkenes/dienes:
Diels-Alder (alkene + diene —> larger alkene)
Cold, dilute KMnO4 in base (forms a diol)
Ozonolysis (forms carbonyl compounds if a mild reductant like SMe2 or Zn is used, or alcohols if a stronger reductant like NaBH4 is used)
Alcohols:
Tosylation (reaction with TsCl, or 1,4-CH3C6H4SO2Cl. Often followed by the addition of a nucleophile to replace the tosylated alcohol)
Anhydrous oxidations (Swern Oxidation, DMP, PCC etc - if your alcohol is primary, this will always form an aldehyde without overoxidation to a carboxylic acid)
Carbonyls:
Grignard reagents/organolithium reagents (usually extends carbon chain and forms an alcohol - can sometimes lead to rearrangements or reductions in a few cases)
Enolisation (in both acid and base - regardless, this is often followed by addition of an electrophile to increase the carbon chain length)
Wittig reaction (reaction with a phosphonium ylide to form an alkene)
Protection (reaction with ethane-1,2-diol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid such as TsOH)
Favorskii rearrangement (reaction of alpha-bromocarbonyls with a suitable base to extrude one carbon from the chain in the form of a carboxylic acid derivative - exactly which carboxylic acid derivative depends on the base chosen)
Halogenation (reactions with Cl2, Br2 and I2 in both acid and base - in basic conditions, halogenation typically goes further and in cases where there is a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl, you get the haloform reaction)
Haloform reaction (reaction of RCOCH3 and Cl2, Br2 or I2 in base to give the corresponding salt of RCOOH and CHCl3, CHBr3 or CHI3, depending on which halogen you have used)
Arenes:
Diazotisation (use of HNO2 or NaNO2/HCl to convert aryl amines to diazonium salts)
SNAr (reactions of nucleophiles with halogenated arenes containing electron withdrawing groups like -CN or -NO2 ortho or para to the halogen)
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 13
Original post
by TypicalNerdI realise I didn't ever actually write the list of organic reactions beyond the A level syllabus for this thread (sorry - sidetracked with uni vacation work!). Here it is. It is sorted by the starting organic substrate:
Alkenes/dienes:
Diels-Alder (alkene + diene —> larger alkene)
Cold, dilute KMnO4 in base (forms a diol)
Ozonolysis (forms carbonyl compounds if a mild reductant like SMe2 or Zn is used, or alcohols if a stronger reductant like NaBH4 is used)
Alcohols:
Tosylation (reaction with TsCl, or 1,4-CH3C6H4SO2Cl. Often followed by the addition of a nucleophile to replace the tosylated alcohol)
Anhydrous oxidations (Swern Oxidation, DMP, PCC etc - if your alcohol is primary, this will always form an aldehyde without overoxidation to a carboxylic acid)
Carbonyls:
Grignard reagents/organolithium reagents (usually extends carbon chain and forms an alcohol - can sometimes lead to rearrangements or reductions in a few cases)
Enolisation (in both acid and base - regardless, this is often followed by addition of an electrophile to increase the carbon chain length)
Wittig reaction (reaction with a phosphonium ylide to form an alkene)
Protection (reaction with ethane-1,2-diol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid such as TsOH)
Favorskii rearrangement (reaction of alpha-bromocarbonyls with a suitable base to extrude one carbon from the chain in the form of a carboxylic acid derivative - exactly which carboxylic acid derivative depends on the base chosen)
Halogenation (reactions with Cl2, Br2 and I2 in both acid and base - in basic conditions, halogenation typically goes further and in cases where there is a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl, you get the haloform reaction)
Haloform reaction (reaction of RCOCH3 and Cl2, Br2 or I2 in base to give the corresponding salt of RCOOH and CHCl3, CHBr3 or CHI3, depending on which halogen you have used)
Arenes:
Diazotisation (use of HNO2 or NaNO2/HCl to convert aryl amines to diazonium salts)
SNAr (reactions of nucleophiles with halogenated arenes containing electron withdrawing groups like -CN or -NO2 ortho or para to the halogen)
Alkenes/dienes:
Diels-Alder (alkene + diene —> larger alkene)
Cold, dilute KMnO4 in base (forms a diol)
Ozonolysis (forms carbonyl compounds if a mild reductant like SMe2 or Zn is used, or alcohols if a stronger reductant like NaBH4 is used)
Alcohols:
Tosylation (reaction with TsCl, or 1,4-CH3C6H4SO2Cl. Often followed by the addition of a nucleophile to replace the tosylated alcohol)
Anhydrous oxidations (Swern Oxidation, DMP, PCC etc - if your alcohol is primary, this will always form an aldehyde without overoxidation to a carboxylic acid)
Carbonyls:
Grignard reagents/organolithium reagents (usually extends carbon chain and forms an alcohol - can sometimes lead to rearrangements or reductions in a few cases)
Enolisation (in both acid and base - regardless, this is often followed by addition of an electrophile to increase the carbon chain length)
Wittig reaction (reaction with a phosphonium ylide to form an alkene)
Protection (reaction with ethane-1,2-diol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid such as TsOH)
Favorskii rearrangement (reaction of alpha-bromocarbonyls with a suitable base to extrude one carbon from the chain in the form of a carboxylic acid derivative - exactly which carboxylic acid derivative depends on the base chosen)
Halogenation (reactions with Cl2, Br2 and I2 in both acid and base - in basic conditions, halogenation typically goes further and in cases where there is a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl, you get the haloform reaction)
Haloform reaction (reaction of RCOCH3 and Cl2, Br2 or I2 in base to give the corresponding salt of RCOOH and CHCl3, CHBr3 or CHI3, depending on which halogen you have used)
Arenes:
Diazotisation (use of HNO2 or NaNO2/HCl to convert aryl amines to diazonium salts)
SNAr (reactions of nucleophiles with halogenated arenes containing electron withdrawing groups like -CN or -NO2 ortho or para to the halogen)
Ah thank you very much!!!
Reply 14
Original post
by TypicalNerdI realise I didn't ever actually write the list of organic reactions beyond the A level syllabus for this thread (sorry - sidetracked with uni vacation work!). Here it is. It is sorted by the starting organic substrate:
Alkenes/dienes:
Diels-Alder (alkene + diene —> larger alkene)
Cold, dilute KMnO4 in base (forms a diol)
Ozonolysis (forms carbonyl compounds if a mild reductant like SMe2 or Zn is used, or alcohols if a stronger reductant like NaBH4 is used)
Alcohols:
Tosylation (reaction with TsCl, or 1,4-CH3C6H4SO2Cl. Often followed by the addition of a nucleophile to replace the tosylated alcohol)
Anhydrous oxidations (Swern Oxidation, DMP, PCC etc - if your alcohol is primary, this will always form an aldehyde without overoxidation to a carboxylic acid)
Carbonyls:
Grignard reagents/organolithium reagents (usually extends carbon chain and forms an alcohol - can sometimes lead to rearrangements or reductions in a few cases)
Enolisation (in both acid and base - regardless, this is often followed by addition of an electrophile to increase the carbon chain length)
Wittig reaction (reaction with a phosphonium ylide to form an alkene)
Protection (reaction with ethane-1,2-diol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid such as TsOH)
Favorskii rearrangement (reaction of alpha-bromocarbonyls with a suitable base to extrude one carbon from the chain in the form of a carboxylic acid derivative - exactly which carboxylic acid derivative depends on the base chosen)
Halogenation (reactions with Cl2, Br2 and I2 in both acid and base - in basic conditions, halogenation typically goes further and in cases where there is a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl, you get the haloform reaction)
Haloform reaction (reaction of RCOCH3 and Cl2, Br2 or I2 in base to give the corresponding salt of RCOOH and CHCl3, CHBr3 or CHI3, depending on which halogen you have used)
Arenes:
Diazotisation (use of HNO2 or NaNO2/HCl to convert aryl amines to diazonium salts)
SNAr (reactions of nucleophiles with halogenated arenes containing electron withdrawing groups like -CN or -NO2 ortho or para to the halogen)
Alkenes/dienes:
Diels-Alder (alkene + diene —> larger alkene)
Cold, dilute KMnO4 in base (forms a diol)
Ozonolysis (forms carbonyl compounds if a mild reductant like SMe2 or Zn is used, or alcohols if a stronger reductant like NaBH4 is used)
Alcohols:
Tosylation (reaction with TsCl, or 1,4-CH3C6H4SO2Cl. Often followed by the addition of a nucleophile to replace the tosylated alcohol)
Anhydrous oxidations (Swern Oxidation, DMP, PCC etc - if your alcohol is primary, this will always form an aldehyde without overoxidation to a carboxylic acid)
Carbonyls:
Grignard reagents/organolithium reagents (usually extends carbon chain and forms an alcohol - can sometimes lead to rearrangements or reductions in a few cases)
Enolisation (in both acid and base - regardless, this is often followed by addition of an electrophile to increase the carbon chain length)
Wittig reaction (reaction with a phosphonium ylide to form an alkene)
Protection (reaction with ethane-1,2-diol in the presence of a catalytic amount of acid such as TsOH)
Favorskii rearrangement (reaction of alpha-bromocarbonyls with a suitable base to extrude one carbon from the chain in the form of a carboxylic acid derivative - exactly which carboxylic acid derivative depends on the base chosen)
Halogenation (reactions with Cl2, Br2 and I2 in both acid and base - in basic conditions, halogenation typically goes further and in cases where there is a methyl group bonded to a carbonyl, you get the haloform reaction)
Haloform reaction (reaction of RCOCH3 and Cl2, Br2 or I2 in base to give the corresponding salt of RCOOH and CHCl3, CHBr3 or CHI3, depending on which halogen you have used)
Arenes:
Diazotisation (use of HNO2 or NaNO2/HCl to convert aryl amines to diazonium salts)
SNAr (reactions of nucleophiles with halogenated arenes containing electron withdrawing groups like -CN or -NO2 ortho or para to the halogen)
I also had a question about the 2006 paper (Q6) I have attached photos below. Would you be able to walk me through part A? Is it some type of methylation, I'm not so sure how to go about it.
Reply 15
Original post
by w12345.hI also had a question about the 2006 paper (Q6) I have attached photos below. Would you be able to walk me through part A? Is it some type of methylation, I'm not so sure how to go about it.
Look at molecule C and compare it to molecule A. What differences can you spot? Might they help you to elucidate what dimethyl sulphate does?
Spoiler for once you have tried the above
Reply 16
Oh I see, are we mainly just expected to work that out from seeing how the structures change? (And for the rest of the answers too?)
Reply 17
Original post
by w12345.hOh I see, are we mainly just expected to work that out from seeing how the structures change? (And for the rest of the answers too?)
That is exactly what I meant by learning to work out products from hints in the synthesis tree. You can’t possibly learn every organic reaction under the sun, so they tend to give you just enough to work with to make sensible educated guesses. I’m hoping that in not directly giving you the answers and indicating how I would think about the problem, you will begin to spot all the tricks for yourself.
Reply 18
Thanks for the advice, I get what you mean. However I came across this question in the 2024 paper and I find step 2 a bit confusing, as in I couldn’t predict it from the synthesis tree. I have also learnt the mechanisms that you listed. Somewhat learning all the mechanisms has exposed me to more choices of how the compounds can change so I feel a bit confused. I would appreciate some advice!! 😅
Reply 19
Original post
by w12345.hThanks for the advice, I get what you mean. However I came across this question in the 2024 paper and I find step 2 a bit confusing, as in I couldn’t predict it from the synthesis tree. I have also learnt the mechanisms that you listed. Somewhat learning all the mechanisms has exposed me to more choices of how the compounds can change so I feel a bit confused. I would appreciate some advice!! 😅
B is a standard A level reaction. In excess HCl, the alcohol group is replaced by -Cl and the -OH group is lost as water.
C is hard, but there’s a bit of a hint here - above part (c), there is a scheme where first the molecule reacts with a base to form an enolate and then methyl iodide to extend the carbon chain. What if instead, you form the enolate by deprotonating the CH2 by the carbonyl (using a carbonate) and then that enolate attacks the chloroalkane carbon to form a 3-membered ring?
D is also a hard one, which has a hint available (see above part (e)). What if you took two molecules of C and tried to react them in a similar way? Note that anything containing (CH3)3CO^- ions is a base.
E involves a pair of reactions worth learning. Since E has a carbonyl group, hydrazine can attack the carbonyl and replace the oxygen (which is lost as water, along with the two hydrogens on the attacking nitrogen atom in hydrazine). Since this puts a C=C and a C=N bond one C-C bond apart from each other, the C=C is electrophilic and the nucleophilic -NH2 can insert into it by something called a michael addition to form an intermediate similar to an enolate. The extra proton on this nitrogen quenches the enolate-like species to give the final product.
The next bit of (f) should be ticking the boxes under Step 2 and Step 3. The giveaway is that these reactions are the two that involve throwing a base into the solution and having it react with the ketone.
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- UK chemistry olympiad
- Chemistry Olympiad
- Cambridge STEM SMART residential
- chemistry olympiad year 10
- Applying for Oxford chemistry
- Using Chem Olympiad/C3L6 to revise for ESAT
- Olympiads!
- Help with oxford
- 16+ Exams Westminster, Brighton college , Kings
- Competitions for prospective Engineering student
- Degrees - Chem, Biochem, Microbiology or (unlikely) medicine
- [POLL] Importance of accreditation by IOP/RSC ..?
- Entrance exams for Kings College Wimbledon and Westminster School
- Official Chemistry Applicants Thread 2025
- are olympiads good for university applications ( bio, chem, psych)
- Chemical Engineering Extra Curriculars
- belated documentation of y13 ragebait by life itself
- Questions for chemistry undergraduates (any advice welcome)
- UK chemistry Olympiad (Nationals)
- A-Level Chemistry Study Group 2024-25
Latest
Trending
Last reply 3 weeks ago
AQA A level chemistry synthetic routes map - what is the best one to memorise?Last reply 6 months ago
AQA Chemistry Electrode Potentials Conventional Representation QuestionLast reply 8 months ago
OCR B Salters A Level Chemistry 2025 Advanced ArticleLast reply 8 months ago
Help with this chemistry question? (A2, acid-base equilibria)
How The Student Room is moderated
To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.
