#for those who are wondering - it describes the reversing of a specific functional groups reactivity

[meteortrails]

OH before I like, fully lose my mind and forget: organic chemistry as a field has the stupidest fucking terms and I’m in love with it. did you know that today I got to watch a 50 year old man with a PhD and a research lab be forced to explain why he just called a mechanism an ‘umpolung’ (pronounced in a way reminiscent of Oompa Loompa in the emphasis, for those who aren’t good with Germanic pronunciations). he literally had to stop and be like yeah idk a lot of organic chemistry happens in Germany and I. Have to assume it sounds more reasonable to them.