Organic chemistry shorthand?

[Genecks]

I'm trying to figure out shorthand ways, ways to write down things faster.

 

So, I recently learned that instead of writing C=O, I can just write CO.

For instance...

 

 

I know that for benzene, a person can draw a six-carbon ring and put in a circle.

What about the image I uploaded? Can I put a ring in there instead of drawing the three lines?

Imagine I had to draw this thing like 20+ more times...

 

I'm looking for shorthand ways of drawing these things out.

Edited April 2, 2011 by Genecks

[Horza2002]

The vast majority of chemistry short hands are for certain functional groups e.g. the BOC group, CBZ, Fmoc....these are all protecting group. The problem is that if you simplify a benzene ring any further, you lose the information of the positions of the groups around the ring (e.g. where they are). I would basically advice you to become very good at drawign hexagons. Alternatively, invest in chemistry stenciles...

[hypervalent_iodine]

I would have drawn it like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I personally think that drawing the carbonyl is easier in a lot of cases than is writing CO. Plus, it makes drawing ring structures a bit easier (for me at least). Groups such as Et, CO₂Et, Ph, etc. I tend to write, depending on what I'm doing. If I'm drawing a mechanism, I draw out the pertinent bits of the molecule that I might otherwise write in short hand. If it's for a paper, I do short hand for protecting groups and typical reagents only.

 

As for the phenyl group problem: I personally don't like the circle in the middle business and I will always draw the bonds. It's a matter of preference I suppose. Another way to represent a phenyl group is with the symbol, Ø. It obviously doesn't to the case above. It's more if the phenyl group is a substituent.