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CAIE A-Level Chemistry 36.1 Organic Synthesis

Practise turning structures and test evidence into feasible multi-step routes using only syllabus reactions.

Syllabus
2028–2030
Course
Chemistry 9701
Level
A2

Exam points

  • identify every relevant functional group before deciding which transformation a route step performs
  • select reagents and conditions that achieve the required change without altering groups that must remain
  • check each proposed intermediate against molecular formulae, test evidence and the next reaction step

Covered syllabus points

36.1.1—For an organic molecule containing several36.1.2—Devise multi-step synthetic routes36.1.3—Analyse

36.1 Organic synthesis question 1

[Maximum number: 2]

Asparagine and aspartic acid are two naturally occurring amino acids. Their structures and isoelectric points are shown in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1

Table 8.1

Asparagine and aspartic acid are treated separately with an excess of LiAlH4\mathrm{LiAlH}_{4}.

Draw the structures of the organic products of these reactions.
product of asparagine treated with an excess of LiAlH4\mathrm{LiAlH}_{4}
product of aspartic acid treated with an excess of LiAlH4\mathrm{LiAlH}_{4}

36.1 Organic synthesis question 2

[Maximum number: 3]

Procaine is used as an anaesthetic in medicine. It can be synthesised from methylbenzene in five steps as shown in Fig. 7.1.

Fig. 7.1

Fig. 7.1

Procaine is synthesised in three steps from X.

Suggest the reagents and conditions for step 4 and for step 5 in Fig. 7.1.
step 4
step 5

36.1 Organic synthesis question 3

[Maximum number: 5]

Question (a)

(a)

3-aminobenzoic acid can be synthesised from methylbenzene in three steps. methylbenzene

Figure for Question (a) — CAIE A-Level Chemistry A2
[ 5 ]

Question (i)

(i)

Draw the structures of M and N in the boxes.

[ 2 ]

Question (ii)

(ii)

Suggest reagents and conditions for each step of the synthesis. step 1
step 2
step 3

[ 3 ]
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