GENERAL METHODS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

**Definition:** This place covers:

General methods for the preparation of organic compounds which are of general applicability, in which the method itself is of interest rather than the product. Such methods are:

Reduction and oxidation in general;

Reactions with or without formation or introduction of functional groups containing heteroatoms;

Halogenation;

Grignard reactions;

Introduction of protecting groups or activating groups;

Asymmetric syntheses;

Racemisation;

Complete or partial inversion;

Separation of optically-active compounds;

Introduction of isotopes of elements into organic compounds and isotopically labelled compounds per se;

Purification

Separation

Stabilisation

Apparatus suitable for carrying out the general methods for the preparation of organic compounds

**Limiting references (this place does not cover):** - Organic reactions which are not of generic character -> Other C07 class - Preparation of carboxylic esters by telomerisation -> C07C67/47 - Processes for preparing macromolecular compounds, e.g. telomerisation -> C08F , C08G - Fermentation or enzyme-using processes to synthesise a desired chemical compound or composition or to separate optical isomers from a racemic mixture -> C12P - Production of organic compounds by electrolysis or electrophoresis -> C25B3/00 , C25B7/00

**Glossary:** - Asymmetric synthesis: Process that produce optically active compounds from symmetrically constituted molecules by the intermediate use of optically active reagents, but without the use of any of the methods of resolution - Functional group: Group of atoms within a molecule that is responsible for certain properties of the molecule and reactions in which it takes part - Grignard reaction: Addition of organomagnesium compounds (Grignard reagents) to carbonyl groups or other unsaturated groups to give alcohols or ketones - Inversion: The spatial rearrangement of atoms or groups of atoms in a disymmetric molecule, giving rise to a product with a molecular configuration that is a mirror image of that of the original molecule - Isotopically labelled compound: Compounds with an unusual isotope in one or more of its elements. By unusual is meant that the isotope does not exist in high amounts naturally - Racemisation: Conversion, by heat or by chemical reaction of an optically active compound into an optically inactive form in which half of the optically active substance becomes its mirror image (enantiomer). This change results in a mixture of equal quantities of dextro- and levorotatory isomers, as result of which the compound does not rotate plane-polarized light to either right or left since the two opposite rotations cancel each other - Separation: Means separation only for the purposes of recovering organic compounds