In a basic solution, why are ketones more reactive than ethers? I know you said that ethers cannot be deprotonated by bases because they do not have an -OH bond, but neither does the ketone. (Most ketones have more acidic alpha-hydrogens. Also, a base can add to the C=O group. - GS).

In the lecture notes, it says, “Reactivity with nucleophiles is decreased by the stabilizing conjugation, which depends on the electron donating ability of X.” This confuses me because I thought that weak bases were good leaving groups and, therefore, more reactive to nucleophilic substitution? That is correct. (Weak bases usually hold an electron pair better, so stabilization of the carbonyl group decreases, and, therefore, reactivity increases. It is another part of the explanation of the basicity trend. - GS). So does that mean that strong acids are bad leaving groups and are more reactive to nucleophilic substitution because they want to donate their electrons?

Can you explain the main difference between an enol and an enolate? (Enol is a conjugate acid to enolate. - GS).

During class when you were talking about Histones and the ability of the amines in them to form spikes, what did you want us to know for that? I understand if there’s a spike in the wound structure of the protein and DNA that it won’t unravel easily but what else is there to know about the importance of Histones and how they relate to the chemistry we are learning now? (Just know that the amino-groups of histones can act as nucleophiles in the nucleophilic acyl substitution with a thioester AcetylCoa. You do not need to know anything from biochemistry for the exam. - GS).

I know we went over the mechanism of alkylation of amines in class but could you explain it again? (It is SN2 with amine as a nucleophile: http://ochem.orgfree.com/sn2.html - GS). Could you also explain how alkylation of amines is different from acylation of amines? (Acylation of amines proceeds by the nucleophilic acyl substitution that will be discussed in unit 10. - GS).

Why are aldehydes more reactive than ketones? (Less steric hindrance, less stabilization of the partial positive charge of the carbonyl group, and the possibility to oxidize the aldehyde proton - GS).

Substitution is more favorable right because it restores aromaticity? (Yes, for the second step of aromatic electrophilic substitution. - GS).

What does it mean when there is anoic at the end of a word like butanoic or propanoic? (It means “carboxylic acid”, for instance propanoic acid is CH3CH2COOH - GS).

Does acylation of an amine create an amide? (Yes. - GS).