Drawing Resonance Structures (28 min)

In this tutorial, Dr. J.C. Olsen covers many helpful tips on drawing resonance structures and also provides useful ways of thinking about resonance. (Runtime = 27:34)

Student Learning Outcomes
After viewing this tutorial and practicing problems from this website and your textbook, you should be able to:
• Recognize the following common resonance structure motifs: a) carbonyl & carbonyl-like, b) allyl anion & allyl anion-like, c)
   allyl cation & substituted allyl cations, d) benzene & benzene-like.
• Recognize and interpret the features that decrease stability in resonance structures.
• Avoid the common errors in drawing resonance structures.


Practice Problems
Here are some problems to get you started. You should first try each on a piece of paper. Then, place your cursor over the graphic and click on right arrow that appears to see the answer. The right and left arrows allow you to move back and forth between problems. Please note that these are not the only types of problems/questions that exist on this topic. Refer to your textbook and any problems your instructor provides you for more practice with this subject.

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© Thomas Poon 1999