Cover of the textbook  

Online Problems from

The Art of Writing Reasonable Organic Reaction Mechanisms

 

Since 2001, UK Professor of Computer Science Raphael Finkel and I, in partnership with publisher Pearson, have created and developed an online organic chemistry homework program, ACE Organic, that requires students to draw structures and provides response-specific feedback that guides students to the answers without giving them away.

With the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the ACE Organic team has added the capability to handle reaction mechanisms. That is, ACE can ask students to draw a reasonable mechanism for a particular reaction. Students are expected to draw key intermediates and proper electron-flow arrows. ACE can analyze the response and provide appropriate feedback if the mechanism contains unreasonable steps.

I am very excited to announce that I have entered most of the end-of-chapter problems in The Art of Writing Reasonable Organic Reaction Mechanisms into ACE Organic. (Exception: The problems from chapters 6 and 7, transition-metal-mediated reactions and mixed mechanism questions, have not yet been entered. ACE cannot yet handle dative bonds and π complexes, although we hope this situation will change soon.) You can now try solving the AWRORM problems online!

What is the advantage of using ACE to solve problems from AWRORM? Simply this: Seeing how I solved a problem (by looking at the answer keys provided for free in a PDF file) is not the same as solving the problem yourself. With ACE, you get to find out whether your response is correct without seeing my version of the correct answer. If you made a mistake, ACE points out the mistake you made and allows you to correct it and resubmit as many times as you wish.

(I should also mention that if you experience problems with ACE (either technical difficulties or problems with content or feedback), I will address those problems as quickly as possible.)

If you would like to purchase access to the AWRORM problems online in ACE Organic, here's what you do:

  1. Press the "Buy Now" button to send $15 to me.

  2. Send me an email requesting access to the problems.

If you wish to try out the product before paying for it:

  1. Go to the UK ACE site.
  2. Log in as guestStudent, password guest.
  3. Click on Mechanisms Demo course.
  4. Click on Assignments.
  5. Work each assignment in turn. You will have to do each question in practice mode if someone has entered this site previously.