Many undergraduates taking organic chemistry consider nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions to be very confusing topics. In order to facilitate learning these reactions, fifteen comprehensive introductory organic chemistry textbooks are compared with respect to presentation ordering, consistent use of various symbols, omission of certain important topics, presence of inaccuracies, and other characteristics. Pedagogically effective and useful recommendations are made which could remedy the above problems. Comparison results and recommendations will be presented and discussed, as suggestions for improving the learning experiences of students.

Comparing nucleophilic substitution vs. elimination in organic chemistry textbooks

247th National Meeting (2014)

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