1.5: Guiding Principles of Organic Chemistry

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Finally, there are a few guiding principles that you should be familiar with as you journey through organic chemistry:

1.     (+) and (-) charges are attracted to each other and like charges repel
        a. Nucleophiles (literally “nucleus loving”) are normally (–) charged species or those with a lone pair that are “looking” for a “nucleus” (aka, something electron deficient)
        b. Electrophiles (literally “electron loving”) are normally (+) charged species or those with an empty orbital that are willing to “accept” a pair of electrons (aka, something electron rich)

2. Electronegative atoms hoard electrons

3. Atoms love having filled outer shells, which is more stable (octet rule)
a. How many bonds do the atoms C, N, O, F, and H make to other things? How many lone pairs on each atom?

4.     Electrons like to have space to move around
        a.     Resonance can move electrons through π systems
        b.     Polarizability is the “squishiness” of an atom, or how diffuse it is. For example, I^– is more stable than Br^–because electrons can better spread out on the larger I atom.

5. Unstable compounds are higher in energy, and are thus more reactive

6. H^₊ atoms can be added or removed fairly easily, which can have a big impact on reactivity