How To Survive Your Organic Chemistry Class
Last updated 12/18/2025
Organic Chemistry (aka, orgo or o-chem) has a reputation for being difficult. This introductory course is more in-depth than General Chemistry, covering the properties, reactions, and analysis of carbon-based molecules. It lays the foundation for more advanced chemistry courses and is applied in fields like medicine, forensics, and ecology.
But it doesn’t have to be difficult. Whether orgo is your passion or just a prerequisite for other courses, these simple strategies can help you manage this fundamental course.
Minimize memorization
While there is some memorization in orgo, especially at the beginning, you don’t need to memorize everything. Focus on basic vocabulary, then how to put it together to describe molecules and reactions.
You'll need three buckets of vocabulary:
∎ Nomenclature
Memorize the parent names, prefixes, and suffixes for different arrangements of atoms. Instead of memorizing molecule names, put the prefixes and suffixes together to identify compounds.
For example, 2-aminoethanol is a combination of the prefix “amino” for –NH2 group, “ethane” for the two-carbon backbone, and the suffix “ol” for the –OH group:
∎ Reactions
Although organic chemistry courses cover 200 to 300 reactions, they are mostly just variations of a few (see next section on patterns). Once you learn the different reaction types, you’ll be able to identify most reactions without memorization.
∎ Analysis
Orgo usually includes analytical techniques frequently used in organic chemistry, namely mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance. For each of these techniques, focus on the common features and patterns that indicate different types of molecular features.
Memorizing just the essentials will allow you to focus on understanding, for an easier workload.
Pro Tip
Organic chemistry builds on previous concepts, so staying consistent is key. Make a study plan early in the course to keep organized, and ask for help right away when something isn’t clear—this will prevent small gaps from turning into big challenges.
Learn to recognize the patterns
As mentioned, the typical Organic Chemistry course can cover up to 300 reactions; however, all those reactions operate on a simple principle: electrons like to move from the less electronegative atoms to the more electronegative ones.
Electrons move in just a handful of patterns known as mechanisms. You can easily predict the outcomes of all the reactions in the course by learning those mechanisms.
Similarly, analytical results follow predictable patterns. For example, all molecules with an alcohol group (-C-OH) have a distinctive peak around 3200 – 3650 cm-1 in their infrared spectrum, while nuclear magnetic resonance will have a set of four peaks for a –CH3 group.
Learning the common features of analytical techniques will help you use the results to identify unknown molecules quickly.
Get creative with your learning
Rereading text or notes is the least efficient way to learn. Make better use of your time with active learning strategies, such as the following:
∎ Make a learning tool
Create an infographic of functional groups or spectral shifts. Develop a study sheet for yourself and your classmates. Make flash cards. Draw a chart of reaction mechanisms. Making your own learning tools is especially helpful for strategic memorization.
∎ Get three-dimensional
Build molecular models for compounds and reactions you come across. Chemistry happens in three dimensions, so building models will help you visualize what’s happening better than two-dimensional images.
∎ Try teaching
The process of explaining information will help you understand it better. Find a study group (or a very patient friend) and practice explaining chemistry to them. Or share your teaching on social media—you never know what tips you might get in the comments.
∎ Practice, practice, practice
The more practice problems you do, the better. Do problems in your textbook, old exams, or online resources without checking your answers until you have finished. Spend time on synthesis problems in which you identify how to synthesize a certain product using one or two reactants. These problems tend to draw on information from previous chapters, which keeps the information fresh.
Remember lessons from general chemistry
Refer back to your General Chemistry text and notes to refresh on these key concepts:
- Electronegativity and electron transfer
Electronegativity and electron transfer help you predict where electrons will move in reactions. - Thermodynamics
Understanding the interplay of energy, enthalpy, and entropy that drives organic reactions will help you learn them. - VSEPR theory, Lewis diagrams, isomers
Carbon chemistry relies on the molecular shapes and configurations. Being able to understand, predict, and draw these shapes will help you understand reactions better. - Unit conversions, stoichiometry, dilutions
You will use these both in class and lab work, which becomes more independent in Organic Chemistry.
Additionally, if you are writing formal lab reports for the first time, you may want to refer to any literature or writing-focused classes you’ve taken.
Breathe!
Seriously. Step away from your study area and take a real break. Take a walk, go to a campus spin class, do yoga—anything to get the blood flowing. Eat healthy and get plenty of sleep. Manage your stress with friends, family, or even therapy. Taking care of yourself will help you learn at peak effectiveness and be happier while you do it.
With a little help and a lot of patience, you can rock the organic chemistry curriculum!
Patterns in action
The following diagram represents six of the reactions you will learn in organic chemistry. Rather than memorize the reactions, notice the patterns.
First, there are only three types of reactions here:
- Reactions A and B are addition reactions —adding atoms to the carbon-carbon double bond
- Reactions C and D are elimination reactions — removing atoms to make a carbon-carbon double bond
- Reaction E and F are substitution reactions— replacing functional groups
If you learn the conditions in which additions, eliminations, and substitutions happen, you will cut your memorization load in half.
You can reduce memorizing even more by following the electrons, which will always chase positive charges. In reaction A, the double bond is four electrons shared between two atoms, which is pretty electron dense. So, two electrons chase the positively charged H+, forming a C-H bond.
Carbons with more C-C bonds can handle the charges better, so the positive charge left by broken double bond stays on the middle carbon. That positive charge is attractive to the lone pair of electrons on the oxygen in the nearby water molecule, forming a C-OH bond and resulting in 2-propanol.
Reaction A (addition reaction)
The same pattern applies to reaction B, with Br- attaching to the positively charged carbon instead of OH-.
By learning how electrons seek out charges, you can deduce the correct reaction without having to memorize a lot of reactions.
About the Author
Blake Aronson
is a Program Manager for ACS Student Communities. She works with programs for undergraduate students at two- and four-year institutions, graduate students, and various ACS initiatives.
