Chemistry tutor near me in Oakland, CA

The tutor and student reviewed organic chemistry reactions involving alcohols, focusing on mechanisms like SN1 and SN2, dehydration to form alkenes, and oxidation reactions. They discussed carbocation stability, regioselectivity, and the role of various reagents, along with the conditions favoring specific reaction pathways. The session concluded with a brief overview of ether chemistry and a plan to potentially revise mechanisms.

The Tutor and Student reviewed the structure, nomenclature, and interconversion of carbohydrates, focusing on monosaccharides and their cyclic forms (pyranose and furanose). They practiced drawing structures, understanding epimers and anomers, and discussed reactions like oxidation, reduction, and chain elongation/shortening. The next class will cover remaining topics and disaccharides.

The session covered various organic chemistry reactions including diazotization, reactions of organolithium reagents with carboxylic acids, reduction of functional groups using hydride reagents, and named reactions like Wittig and acetal formation. The student practiced identifying products and reagents for these transformations, and the tutor recommended reviewing notes on key concepts for future study.

The Tutor and Student reviewed and practiced problems related to the Ideal Gas Law, Avogadro's Law, and Graham's Law of Effusion. They focused on applying these laws to calculate various gas properties such as temperature, pressure, moles, rates of effusion, and molar masses, with a plan to continue with more rate questions.

The tutor and student reviewed intermolecular forces (London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole, and hydrogen bonding) and their relationship to boiling points. They practiced predicting boiling points based on molecular structure and intermolecular forces, and discussed the concept of distillation as a separation technique. The tutor also explained 3D molecular representation using wedge and dash notation.

The Tutor and Student reviewed the fundamentals of pH, pOH, and the ion product constant of water (Kw). They then applied the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation to solve problems involving buffer solutions, including calculating pH before and after adding a strong acid and determining the necessary ratios for a target pH. The Student was assigned practice problems from a worksheet as homework.