Originally entitled: The Universe According to Morrison and Boyd
I wrote this waay back in my bright college days, burning the midnight oil and studying organic until I was having nightmares about molecular shapes. Enjoy!
I did not grasp the concepts
That were flung at me
I wish that I could understand
Organic Chemistry
When carbon bonds to carbon, in
A host of tiny rings
It's really hard to figure out
These alicyclic things
Naming is important in
This field of chemistry ...
And which is better, common names
Or I-U-P-A-C?
With pharmacology we can
Do things that are fantastic
And organic gives us all the things
Like nylon, soaps and plastic.
Aliphatic substitution
Is rather complex, it's true
But even worse when it is compared
With E1 and E2.
The thought of all this carbon bonding
Puts an aching in my head
So I'll synthesize a Valium
And go on back to bed.
It has been so long since I wrote this, that I can scarcely remember what the next to last stanza is about. E2, in this context, is some kind of elimination reaction and has nothing to do with this site!