Preparing for Instagram posts
Ok, so this is my first real blog post. This one will be about the work I did put into my most recent “What Is” instagram post. I am not sure if those are really helpful or relevant; however, I think I will keep doing them as the semester goes on so I can at least gain some kind of attention using the hashtags.
I will also try to include photos of my notepad and the instagram post itself.
Anyway, I was thinking of what I could do for Organic Chemistry 2 tutoring or Ochem 2 tutoring. I decided to talk about aromaticity and what that really means. Seeing as how this needed to be an advert for tutoring, I could not really go in depth about it on instagram. That doesn’t mean I can’t go in depth about it here :).
So, first things first, I needed to remember the general definition of “aromaticity” and then remember all the rules that go into a molecule being aromatic, antiaromatic, or nonaromatic.
I re-read my old college textbook on aromaticity and was able to remember most of the stuff. You see, a compound being aromatic is a mixture of different characteristics that do not make something aromatic all on it’s own. Also, I learned this from tutoring, “aromatic” does not necessarily mean smelly. Aromatic- in the chemistry sense- is more about unique properties due to a collection of characteristics that the molecule has. In other words, a molecule can BE aromatic if it has a collection of specific properties all at once. Something being “smelly” is really just a unique property of functional groups on the compound. This is why ketones and aldehydes are commonly found in perfumes and colognes, where things like amines and amides are found in fish or even things that smell kind of fishy.
Right, back to the whole “What is: Aromaticity” post. I was able to figure out all the four rules, again. This was easy, for me, since I had already taken the class and tutored this class for a number of years. Since I became a high school chemistry teacher, I actually had not used this info in a VERY long time. So, the four rules are as follows:
The molecule must be planar. That means it must be flat. Like actually flat. Paper flat or table-top flat. It cannot have any bends or kinks in it or even be a little floppy.
The molecule must be in a ring. That means that the molecule must be cyclic or close on itself. It cannot be a straight line or even a straight line that so happens to circle on itself. If the first carbon and last carbon on the chain do not connect and close a loop, then it is not a ring.
The molecule must be fully conjugated. Ok, this rule is what gets most students. Each carbon IN the ring (not on the ring or outside of the ring) must be sp2 hybridized. This means that the carbons need to have the geometry of trigonal planar. If all of the carbons are trigonal planar (flat) then that means the entire ring is flat. This is what makes the entire molecule flat. Think of it this way, if you have a group of people, and everyone thinks blue is red, then blue, is indeed, red. If ONE person thinks blue is blue, then you cannot say the whole room thinks blue is red. You have one person that breaks that rule.
The molecule follows Huckel’s rule which is 4n + 2 = # of pi electrons. This one also gets students. Essentially, you just have to count up all the electrons that are in double bonds and plug it into the “# of pi electrons”. Once you do that, you just solve for “n”. If “n” is a whole number AND the molecule follows rules 1 through 3, then the molecule is aromatic. If “n” is not a whole number and is a fraction AND the molecule follows rules 1 through 3, then the molecule is considered “antiaromatic”.
I think the most important thing here is that once I remembered all the rules, I then had to come up with examples that were bite-size and easy to show on instagram. Luckily, I had new drawing software on canva that I could use. Yes, that’s right, I use canva. Sue me. I have no other means :(.
Anyway, I drew out some examples from the textbook and decided which would make the most sense to draw out and post. Honestly, I think benzene was the best choice. Everyone uses it in class and is always the Queen when it comes to aromatic chemistry examples. So, I made the ugliest ad I think I have ever created. Besides the ad that shows my face, that one was pretty dang ugly. Let’s see if I cannot figure out a way to upload the photo.
Also, I am still looking for a chemistry job…so if you know someone, I am looking.
