A Novel Lewis Structure and Its Utilization in the Examination of Mechanisms of Organic Chemical Reactions (Journal Article)

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Abstract: Understanding organic reaction mechanisms can be a challenging task for many undergraduate students, particularly those who are nonchemistry majors, despite the fact that organic chemistry is a mandatory course for numerous science and engineering undergraduate programs. The selectivity of a reaction is largely determined by the distribution and deviation of electron clouds. Nonetheless, the traditional Lewis structure proves inadequate in clearly conveying the distinctions and correlations among sigma bonds, lone pair electrons, and pi bonds. Therefore, a precise and thorough scientific analysis of the structure of organic compounds is of great significance. In light of this, we propose a pioneering method for representing chemical bonds, which not only provides a more lucid portrayal of electron cloud deviation in molecules but also offers a more intuitive depiction of compound structure and reaction mechanisms. According to the proposed novel Lewis structure, we re-explained the mechanism of organic chemical reactions in class. This paper introduces and gives examples according to the types of reactions, including nucleophilic substitution reaction, nucleophilic addition reaction, and electrophilic addition reaction, etc. After class, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the classroom experience and new understanding of reaction. By collecting the results of college students (N = 300) of different majors (N = 5), we found that our method could significantly improved their understanding of reaction mechanisms (90%), help them transfer knowledge (82%), and improve learning efficiency (69%).