Comments on: The Heck, Suzuki, and Olefin Metathesis Reactions (And Why They Don’t Belong In Most Introductory Organic Chemistry Courses)

By: A. K.

A. K. — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 02:29:27 +0000

Why palladium is used as a catalyst in most of these reactions?

By: carlos moran

carlos moran — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 19:21:57 +0000

do you ever consider adding those organometallic concepts to your web page ?
it would be very helpfull in my organometalic course !

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 19:52:05 +0000

In reply to Scott.

…rather than some pointless… Who said anything in favor of pointless 30+ step total syntheses? This is a straw-man argument, and doesn’t help the discussion.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 08 Aug 2017 01:01:49 +0000

These are the most widely used organic reactions and should be covered during organic chem II rather than some pointless 30+ step total synthesis.

By: David

David — Tue, 30 May 2017 05:34:13 +0000

Interesting. I think it is certainly worth a mention, but I agree that the full mechanism needs significantly more background. However, there are enough other reactions that are in the undergrad curriculum that are mechanistically complex, and we gloss over (or simplify) mechanistic details. The Sandmeyer reaction comes to mind again. Along with benzylic oxidation using KMnO4, oxidation with dichromate, .. I can go on. I really think a strongly mechanistic approach is a great way to teach organic; but the question is: – Is there a place for important reactions, even though we’re not going into the mechanism right now? If the answer to this is yes, then I think these reactions deserve more of a mention than some of the ‘classics’ that are currently covered.
Not sure what the answer is, but it is an interesting discussion.

By: James

James — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 17:03:06 +0000

In reply to chemist. It definitely has a place in an undergraduate chemistry curriculum - just not in the introductory organic course! Ideally it should be taught concurrently or after a standard introductory course in inorganic chemistry where students are exposed to transition metal reaction mechanisms, orbitals, bonding, geometry, and so on.

By: chemist

chemist — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 19:36:26 +0000

I completely agree with your analysis, and your conclusion that these reactions shouldn’t be taught as a part of the core organic chemistry curriculum. But if we’re going to be graduating informed, practicing chemists, they do need to learn some of this material.

It speaks to the need for a new class covering organometallic chemistry. Where I went to undergraduate, neither the organic nor the inorganic profs wanted to tackle that course. But it’s really integral to the field these days.

By: sjb

sjb — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 15:08:53 +0000

Having said that, the main route to Celecoxib does not involve TM-catalysed couplings, to my knowledge (but this was some time ago I last looked at this literature)

By: mamid

mamid — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 00:23:27 +0000

Great topic today, and a good read. I admit I am of the same opinion.