What Organic Chemistry Covers
Organic chemistry is the study of the structure, properties, reactions and synthesis of carbon-containing compounds, from simple molecules like methane (CH₄) and ethanol (C₂H₅OH) to glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆), proteins and DNA. It differs from inorganic chemistry in a few key ways:
- Main element: organic compounds are built on carbon frameworks, usually with C–H bonds, while inorganic chemistry focuses on metals, salts and minerals such as sodium chloride.
- Bonding and structure: organic molecules are held together mainly by covalent bonds and can form long chains, rings and very large structures.
- Reactivity: organic reactions are organized around functional groups, while inorganic chemistry often deals with oxidation states and metal-ligand bonding.
Organic chemistry drives drug design, polymers and plastics, fuels and petrochemicals, pesticides and fertilizers, food additives, cosmetics, dyes and textiles, and forensic analysis. To see where it fits among the other fields, read our overview of the branches of chemistry, or visit our chemistry homework help page for general and physical chemistry support.
How Our Organic Chemistry Homework Help Works
- Post your assignment. Upload the problem set, screenshots of online homework questions, your textbook chapter, the deadline and your budget. Note whether you need mechanisms drawn in full.
- Compare tutor bids. Tutors send bids. Review their profiles, ratings and reviews, and chat with them before choosing. Ask whether they have tutored your course level and textbook.
- Pay for the bid you choose and track progress. Message your tutor during the work, share extra files, and ask for clarification on steps you want explained in more detail.
- Download, review and request revisions. Check every structure and arrow. If something is unclear or does not follow your instructions, request a revision.
Organic Chemistry 1 Topics
- Structure and bonding: Lewis structures, formal charge, hybridization, molecular geometry and resonance.
- Acids and bases: pKa values, conjugate base stability and predicting the direction of acid-base reactions.
- Nomenclature: IUPAC names for alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, alkyl halides and other functional groups.
- Conformations: Newman projections and cyclohexane chair conformations, including axial and equatorial substituents.
- Stereochemistry: chirality, R and S configurations, enantiomers, diastereomers, meso compounds, Fischer projections and optical activity.
- Substitution and elimination: SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 mechanisms and how to predict which one wins.
- Alkene and alkyne reactions: electrophilic addition, Markovnikov and anti-Markovnikov selectivity, hydroboration-oxidation, halogenation and ozonolysis.
- Radical reactions: radical halogenation and its selectivity.
Organic Chemistry 2 Help
Organic Chemistry 2 adds many new mechanisms and expects you to combine them into multi-step syntheses. Tutors help with:
- Conjugated systems and pericyclic reactions, including the Diels-Alder reaction.
- Aromatic chemistry: Hückel's rule, the stability of benzene, electrophilic aromatic substitution, directing effects of substituents and nucleophilic aromatic substitution. For a quick refresher on benzene itself, see our walkthrough of the molecular mass of C₆H₆.
- Alcohols, ethers and epoxides: oxidation, protection and ring-opening reactions.
- Aldehydes and ketones: nucleophilic addition, Grignard reactions, the Wittig reaction, acetals, imines and enamines.
- Carboxylic acids and their derivatives: nucleophilic acyl substitution with acid chlorides, anhydrides, esters and amides.
- Enols and enolates: alpha-alkylation, aldol reactions, Claisen condensations and Michael additions.
- Amines and biomolecules: amine reactivity, carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids and an introduction to polymers. Students heading into biochemistry can pair this with our biology homework help.
- Synthesis and retrosynthesis: working backward from a target molecule to choose reagents in the right order.
Spectroscopy and Structure Determination
Identifying an unknown compound from its spectra is a skill that appears in both semesters and on most exams. Tutors explain how to combine the evidence:
- Degrees of unsaturation from the molecular formula, using (2C + 2 + N − H − X) / 2, to count rings and pi bonds.
- Infrared (IR) spectroscopy to spot functional groups, such as a strong carbonyl stretch near 1700 cm⁻¹ or a broad O–H stretch above 3200 cm⁻¹.
- Proton NMR, reading chemical shift, integration and splitting with the n + 1 rule, such as an aldehyde proton near 9 to 10 ppm.
- Carbon-13 NMR to count unique carbon environments.
- Mass spectrometry to find the molecular ion and recognize the M+2 peaks that signal chlorine or bromine.
Organic Chemistry Lab Work
Organic lab courses involve techniques such as extraction, recrystallization, distillation, thin-layer chromatography, melting point determination and percent yield calculations. Tutors can help you understand the theory behind a procedure, analyze your results and structure your report. Our chemistry lab help page covers lab support in more detail, and our guide on how to write a chemistry lab report explains each section. Always use the data you collected yourself.
What a Good Organic Chemistry Solution Includes
- Curved arrows that start at electrons, a lone pair or a bond, and point to where those electrons go.
- Formal charges, lone pairs and intermediates drawn at every step, including carbocations and tetrahedral intermediates.
- Stereochemistry shown clearly with wedges and dashes, plus labels for racemic mixtures or inversion of configuration.
- Reagents and conditions written over each reaction arrow.
- A short explanation of why, such as why a reaction follows SN2 instead of E2, or why a substituent directs to the ortho and para positions.
- Clear drawings, either made in a structure-drawing program or neatly handwritten and scanned.
Common Organic Chemistry Mistakes That Cost Points
Instructors see the same errors on homework and exams every semester. A tutor's explanations should help you avoid them:
- Arrows drawn backward, such as pointing from a proton to a lone pair instead of from the lone pair to the proton.
- Five bonds to carbon, or missing formal charges and lone pairs that make a structure impossible.
- Missed carbocation rearrangements. SN1 and E1 reactions can involve hydride or methyl shifts to a more stable carbocation, which changes the product.
- Ignored stereochemistry, such as forgetting that SN2 inverts a stereocenter or that bromination of an alkene adds the two atoms anti to each other.
- Synthesis steps in the wrong order. To make meta-bromonitrobenzene, for example, you nitrate first because the nitro group directs meta, while bromine directs ortho and para.
- Incompatible reagents, such as running a Grignard reaction on a molecule with an alcohol or carboxylic acid group, which destroys the Grignard reagent before it can react.
Example: Predicting Substitution or Elimination
Suppose a problem asks for the major product when 2-bromobutane is heated with sodium ethoxide in ethanol. A clear solution reasons through it step by step. The substrate is secondary, so SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 are all possible on paper. Ethoxide is a strong base, and heat favors elimination, so E2 dominates. Following Zaitsev's rule, the more substituted alkene, 2-butene, is the major product, with the trans isomer favored over cis. If the base were changed to bulky potassium tert-butoxide, the less substituted 1-butene would become more significant. Seeing the reasoning laid out like this helps you solve the next problem instead of memorizing one answer.
Can Someone Do My Organic Chemistry Homework?
Yes. You can hire a tutor on Ace My Homework to work through an organic chemistry problem set, mechanism worksheet, synthesis problem or lab analysis. Tutors provide model solutions and explanations, and you are responsible for using them in line with your school's academic integrity policy. Organic chemistry exams ask you to draw mechanisms from memory, so the most useful approach is to try each problem first, compare your arrows with the tutor's solution, and redraw the mechanisms you got wrong until you can do them on a blank page.
Study Tips for Organic Chemistry
- Learn mechanisms, not just products. A few patterns, such as nucleophile attacks electrophile, explain most reactions.
- Organize reactions by functional group on flashcards with the reagents on one side and the product and mechanism on the other.
- Use a molecular model kit for chair conformations and stereochemistry.
- Practice on blank paper and check your work against a worked solution, which is far more effective than rereading notes.
- Build a reaction map that connects functional groups, which makes synthesis problems much easier.
- Use free resources and office hours. Khan Academy videos, your textbook's solutions manual and your instructor's office hours all help, as do the hints built into online homework platforms like Sapling.
What to Include in Your Order
- The complete problems or clear screenshots, including all structures
- Your course, textbook and chapter
- Whether full mechanisms, short explanations or final answers with reasoning are required
- Any lab data, spectra or handouts
- Your deadline, including time zone, and your budget
Ready to get started? Post your organic chemistry assignment to receive bids from tutors. Questions first? Contact support through live chat or at support@acemyhomework.com.
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