The retrosynthetic way of thinking � �how can I synthesize this particular molecule� � is not only one of the most challenging tasks for students to learn and to apply but it is also not easy to teach. With one of the University of Freiburg's teaching focus areas being organic chemistry, students of all degrees (B.Sc., M.Sc., Diploma, PhD) face the task to perform retrosynthetic analysis during their final oral examinations with a difficulty level according to their degree and the set of reactions that has been taught. In order to give students another tool to learn and practice retrosynthetic thinking, I recently developed a retrosynthetic game.�Retrosynth� is an educational card game that can be played in different settings. It can be played as a solitaire game to practice one's knowledge of various reaction types in organic chemistry as well as in small groups to additionally practice scientific discussion of different reaction pathways as well as supervised in large groups by splitting up the group in competing smaller teams that are not only urged to discuss within their teams but also to interact between the groups.The game is still in a development stage but has already proven to be challenging and to initiate lively discussions among students with different knowledge of organic chemistry. The first edition of �Retrosynth� is about different ways of synthesizing the complex molecule Strychnine. Other editions with simpler as well as more complex molecules are under development. However, the target molecule's complexity does not correspond to each edition's difficulty and therefore each edition's focus group (undergraduate students, graduate students,�): Only the set of reactions involved in the chemical transformations needed in the game's syntheses does.

"Retrosynth": An educational card game helping to learn retrosynthetic analysis and practicing reactions

247th National Meeting (2014)

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