Chemistry: ORGANIC CHEMISTRY (HL) Topical Past Paper Questions

Penicillin is effective against some bacteria but has no effect on viruses. (a) Describe how the opening of the beta-lactam ring in penicillin destroys bacteria. [2] (b) Outline two ways in which antiviral medications work. [2]

Phenylethanone is a fragrant compound that occurs naturally in fruits such as bananas and apples. (a) Phenylethanone may be synthesised in a two-stage process from phenylethene: (i) Draw the structural formula of the intermediate compound [X]. [1] (ii) Outline why the intermediat…

2-Bromobutane can react with cyanide, $ CN^{-} $, in a nucleophilic substitution reaction. (a) This reaction could proceed through either $ S_{N}1 $ or $ S_{N}2 $ mechanisms depending on the reaction conditions. Sketch a graph of the rate versus nucleophile concentration, $ [CN^{…