ChemiHex

The Organic Roadmap

Ethanol

CCO
primary alcohol

Ethanoic Acid

CC(=O)O
carboxylic acid

Welcome to the Lab! 🧪

  • 1Your Goal: Synthesize the target molecule (Top Right).
  • 2Explore: Browse Reagent Cards in the deck below. Click them for details.
  • 3React: Drag a card from the deck onto a molecule in the arena.
PCC / PDC
Oxidizing Agent

Oxidizes alcohols to carbonyls. Mild and selective.

DRAG TO ARENA
KMnO4 (Acidic/Heat)
Oxidizing Agent

Strong oxidation. Cleaves C=C bonds and oxidizes alcohols/aldehydes fully.

DRAG TO ARENA
KMnO4 (Cold, Dilute) (Baeyer’s)
Oxidizing Agent

Mild oxidation of alkenes to vicinal diols.

DRAG TO ARENA
MnO2
Oxidizing Agent

Selectively oxidizes allylic and benzylic alcohols.

DRAG TO ARENA
O3 / Zn, H2O
Oxidizing Agent

Reductive Ozonolysis. Cleaves double bonds to carbonyls.

DRAG TO ARENA
HIO4 (Periodic Acid)
Oxidizing Agent

Cleaves vicinal diols to carbonyl compounds.

DRAG TO ARENA
LiAlH4 (LAH)
Reducing Agent

Strong reducing agent. Reduces almost all carbonyls.

DRAG TO ARENA
NaBH4
Reducing Agent

Mild reducing agent. Selective for Aldehydes/Ketones.

DRAG TO ARENA
DIBAL-H
Reducing Agent

Selective reduction of Esters/Nitriles to Aldehydes (at low temp).

DRAG TO ARENA
H2 / Pd-BaSO4 (Lindlar’s)
Reducing Agent

Partial hydrogenation of Alkynes to Alkenes.

DRAG TO ARENA
Na / Liq. NH3 (Birch)
Reducing Agent

Dissolving metal reduction. Alkyne to Trans-Alkene.

DRAG TO ARENA
Zn-Hg / HCl (Clemmensen)
Reducing Agent

Reduces Carbonyl (C=O) to Methylene (CH2).

DRAG TO ARENA
NH2NH2 / KOH (Wolff-Kishner)
Reducing Agent

Reduces Carbonyl (C=O) to Methylene (CH2).

DRAG TO ARENA
R-Mg-X (Grignard)
C-C Bond Former

Nucleophilic addition to carbonyls.

DRAG TO ARENA
Alc. KOH / Heat
Elimination

Dehydrohalogenation. Forms Alkenes.

DRAG TO ARENA
t-BuOK (Bulky Base)
Elimination

Dehydrohalogenation favoring Hofmann product.

DRAG TO ARENA
SOCl2 (Thionyl Chloride)
Halogenator

Converts Alcohols to Alkyl Chlorides.

DRAG TO ARENA
Lucas Reagent (HCl + ZnCl2)
Halogenator

Test for Alcohols. Converts ROH to RCl.

DRAG TO ARENA
NBS (hv / Peroxide)
Halogenator

Allylic or Benzylic Bromination.

DRAG TO ARENA
NaOH + X2 (Haloform)
Name Reaction

Oxidizes Methyl Ketones to Carboxylate + CHX3.

DRAG TO ARENA
Dilute NaOH (Aldol)
Name Reaction

Condensation of Aldehydes/Ketones with alpha-H.

DRAG TO ARENA
Conc. NaOH (Cannizzaro)
Name Reaction

Disproportionation of Aldehydes with NO alpha-H.

DRAG TO ARENA
Scroll Down for Matrix ↓

Reactive Compatibility

Interactive Analysis Matrix. Select any cell for mechanism details.

Reagent
Alkene
Alkyne
Alkyl Halide
Alcohol
Epoxide
Aldehyde
Ketone
Acid Chloride
Carbox. Acid
Ester
Amide
Nitrile
Nitro
OH
·
·
·
·
CH
OH
·
·
·
slow
slow
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
CH
hydrol
OH
CH
OH
OH
?
?
CH
OH
OH
slow
slow
Reduction Success
·No Reaction
CHHydrocarbon
OHAlcohol
Next Challenge

Master Reaction Mechanisms

Dive deeper into organic synthesis. Solve step-by-step conversion puzzles in the Organic Wizard game.

Play Organic Wizard