Find solution
Why is organic chemistry hard?

Why do so many organic chemists go into computational chemistry (after first research experiences in laboratory)?

  • Or that's just my biased observation based on people I know? Besides having an accident/illness which prevents them from working in lab... Afraid of toxic fumes? Found the synthetic work too tedious and/or physically hard? Consider themselves too clumsy? Want to learn more and make better use of their maths/physics/coding? Consider computational work to be of higher mental level? Consider that the future of science/organic chemistry is in computational work? Want shorter and more flexible working hours, possibility to work from home, eat while working etc.? (Some of those people I know gave me some of those reasons.) It seems I am the only student I know who had a sort of opposite pathway (I considered computational chemistry when starting BSc, but when I got to it an in-course project showed me I had no real enthusiasm or aptitude to become an expert in it... and then I ended up in lab, despite thinking I was too clumsy; although I am hardly a typical experimental organic chemistry student, as I do less synthesis than most). Edit: Maybe also because of fear of (perceived) cutthroat competition between PhD students in (synthetic) organic labs? (See )

  • Answer:

    I can only speak from my own experience.    I don't actually know many organic chemists who go to Theoretical Chemistry. I know for a fact that I am only a handful of the ones in my University who went into TC after my undergrad and masters. However, that might be just from my University.   The reason I went into TC was a bit personal actually. I've always felt uncomfortable doing maths at graduate level. I mean, I could do basic calculus and do chemical equilibria and stuff, but the really interesting stuff in my mind, such as QM and modelling in general were things that always seemed quite 'foreign' and exotic to me. It was a chip on the shoulder of not being able to do Physics during my University that made me do TC on a graduate level. And boy, it's tough.   During UG, I was best at Organic Chemistry, absolutely abysmal at Inorganic Chemistry and OK at TC. And I thought it would be bad for my development as a scientist to keep to one discipline. I knew instantly that I would rather jump into a volcano than do Inorganic Chemistry, so TC here I come!   I don't regret it, even though I want to tear my hair out sometimes.

Sang Young Noh at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

Thanks for the A2A I am more of a 'mechanistic' guy. Mechanisms have always intrigued me to a point that I would sit for hours trying to figure out every possible pathway for a single reaction. So, in my case, choosing computational chemistry was more of curiosity driven rather than circumstance. I am still an undergraduate and we have to take the lab courses each semester that would require us to synthesize some stuff and characterizing them. So I get to experience (or rather enjoy) the best of both. Personally, I feel that computation and experiments are complementary. I think I was lucky enough to meet my supervisor Prof. R. B. Sunoj. We shared the same mechanistic curiosity and even before I knew it, I was working with him solving more complex problems each day until I got a research project of my own.

Santanu Malakar

I almost have the same experience of Sang Young. When i was undergrad I loved organic chemistry and ive always got high scores on it, a lot higher than other branches specially physical. Also i had an interest to read in quantum, it was exciting and challenging to me , but my very bad scores at it, the difficulty of comprehension and job opportunities never encouraged me to further study it and i choose to pursue a graduate program in experimental chemistry. But after conducting some experimental research and synthesis in my MSc i hated the organic chemistry work. Going home after each experiment with stains or holes in my clothes besides the lab get stinky was indeed one of the main reasons :D  But honestly, i no longer find organic chemistry or experimental work in general is interesting, i am no longer interested in finding a solution to the water purification issue , nanotechnology and other hot topics :P So I took a break and decided to never care about the job opportunities and continue my research in an area i have interest in, at the beginning i thought in electrochemistry but eventually i chose computational chemistry, my old interest because i knew its not only about cleanness and danger. So for me, all your reasons about being clumsy, danger and cleanness issue are true (except the point of future), but in the first place i did so because i like and want to do that.

Muna Ibrahim

Synthetic Organic is hard stuff, and requires a real desire and interest to be in the lab.I was terrible in the lab. I made lots of mistakes.  I spilled things.  I could not get my Grignard reactions to work.  On the other hand, I physical chemistry was cake to me.  I took  graduate level stat mech 996, theory of simple liquids, as a softmore in collegePeople drift towards what they are good at.

Charles H Martin

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.