I got off to a good start with coursework this morning. Powered through a question and a half (I say "powered" it did take over 3 hours but that was quicker than yesterday), so I went for a celebratory walk to Sainsbury's along the canal just so I could enjoy the sun and have a bit of a break.
Lots of canal boats were about. It was a nice walk :-)
I got back to the house and decided to get on with more coursework while I was on a role. The next 4 and a half of hours of my day pretty much sums up why I enjoy organic chemistry, but at the same time what I don't like about it!
Going through various synthesis problems is often a real challenge, and can take a lot of work to solve them. I enjoy solving problems. Today however, I have spent 4 and a half hours pushing arrows, reading in text books and searching the web and have made almost no progress.
Most people, I assume, would have given up long before me but I couldn't let it go. I tried to do some revision on another subject but couldn't focus on it, my brain kept wandering back to the "big conundrum". I know how much better I'll feel when I have the answer so I can't leave it unfinished. At least until I have exhausted *all* possibilities for finding it. There are some scenarios in which I could give up, but this isn't one of them. The particular step I'm struggling with is worth 1 or 2 marks out of 85, and it's not even the marked bit that I can't do, I want the mechanism which wasn't actually asked for so it's not even about that marks, but because it's been set on a piece of coursework I assume that there must be a solution, so the hunt for it isn't futile!
I'm sure I'm missing something obvious, but everything I've tried so far has lead to a dead end. I'm having to update this from my floor because work has taken over my bed, where I normally sit and work. Lecture notes, tutorial questions, textbooks and many scribblings.
This will be worth the effort...I will find the answer...
Perhaps if you posted the transform, we could help point you in the right direction!
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