Whee I shall pause the DotA random trivia for a while for a few reasons:
1. Got new version i need to test
2. Got 4 new heroes and a bunch of new items and changes which are much more interesting so lets talk about that :D
Today I'll talk about one of the more interesting new heroes, Xin. He's basically the Fire Panda (lolol wait till IceFrog comes up with Earth Spirit XD)
Let's look at his specs:
Xin, Ember Spirit
Primary Attribute: Agility
Base MS: 310
Attack Range: 128 (Melee)
Base Damage: 52-56
Starting Armour: 3
Strength 21 + 2.0 | Agility 22 + 1.8 | Intelligence 20 + 1.8
At a glance, he has brilliant specs, being an agility hero with good base armour, good base damage, high starting stats which make early game a breeze with plentiful hp and mp, good base ms, good attack range.... what else can you ask for? Better stat gain, that's for one, but that would make him too good... I suspect he might be nerfed soon.
I don't have access to his advanced data unfortunately, but I have tried playing him and he does have a nice frontswing with a decent cast time, so this hero looks very very strong so far. I suspect he has a crappy BAT though to make up for all that.
Let's look at his skills now:
1. Searing Chains (Active, Automatic)
Xin unleases up to 3 fiery bolas that wrap around nearby enemies, anchoring them in place and dealing damage per second.
AoE: 400 (wa)
Duration: 2/2/3/3 (wth?)
DPS: 40/60/80/100 (looks normal)
Cooldown: 14/12/10/8 <-- wa thats short
Mana cost: 110 <-- wth?
This spell doesn't stun, the code sets the target's movespeed to 0. It's not an ensuare either, not cancelling channeling spells like Scroll of Town Portal. It does not disable; the target can still attack and cast spells. Does not affect invisible or magic immune targets (obviously).
An important thing to note is that it selects 3 random enemies. But even in a crowd of creeps, you still have a good chance of hitting the hero. Furthermore, a good time to use this is when you run from behind, and the opponent is near the ranged creep. Here, the enemy hero(es) is next to the ranged creep and there are only 3 units in the 400 aoe, and you'll snag them both. This is perfect followup with a aoe stun like Light Strike Array or Split Earth.
This is an overpowered skill no doubt. Although it doesn't disable, its cast time is almost instantaneous and it deals good damage to 3 units AND sets their movespeed to 0 for 3 seconds. IceFrog might well nerf the damage, its rather high. Even with 210 damage over 3 seconds (Frostbite hint hint) its still a damn good skill.
2. Sleight of Fist (Active, Ground Target)
Xin dashes around with blazing speed, attacking all enemies in the targeted AoE and returns to where he was standing after. You deal 50% less damage to creeps.
You are invulnerable during this process. Takes 0.2 seconds to attack per unit.
Bonus Hero Damage: +30/60/90/120
AoE: 250/350/450/550
Cast Range: 700
Manacost: 50
Cooldown: 30/22/14/6
This skill is a bit iffy at first glance. It looks like a blink strike, with 6 second cd and 50 mp cost, but it's more like an Omnislash. It looks very good, but the iffy part is the you go back to your starting point. If you ask me this looks like a nuke than a blink strike.
This is a very good skill to have late game though, since when there are more creeps it's going to take you a while and hence stall the cd, allowing you to use it again. Secondly, all your orbs fully activate during these attacks, so u can abuse things like battlefury, mjollnir and so on. Finally, late game you deal good damage once your items are up, so this looks to be quite powerful.
3. Flame Guard (Active, Automatic)
Xin surrounds himself with a ring of fire that consumes incoming magic damage, leaving him unharmed. Deals dps in a 400 aoe. If the shield is dispelled, the dps buff goes away.
DPS: 30/35/40/45
Magic Shell: 150/300/450/600
Duration: 8/12/16/20 (or when the barrier dies)
Manacost: 80/90/100/110
Cooldown: 35
This looks quite ridiculous. Remember the old Storm Spirit's Barrier? That spell was really imba, and it was only the damage block >.<
Now you give an immolation effect, this is huge. A 400 AoE immolation dealing 45 damage per second AND blocking 600 magic damage? O.O
We often say that early game spells are the undoing of agility heroes. Not so for Xin. Also note that this spell has perfect synnergy with the first skill, Searing Chains. Both have a 400 AoE, and this spell deals bonus damage on top of that. What is worth noting further, is that this spell protects you from the magic damage that you'll have to face if you're going to run up to use Searing Chains. Further note that the mana cost for these 2 skills is 110 when max. This is very very very low cost for a combo that is so damaging. And do not forget Xin's 20 + 1.8 intelligence. A simple Ring of Basilius will probably be enough for mana throughout the whole game.
Fire Remnant (Active, Ground Target)
Xin charges himself with the energy to create a Fire Remnant every 30 seconds, with a max of 3 charges. Releasing a charge, sends a Fire Remnant that runs to the targeted point at 2.5 times your speed. Xin can use his secondary ability to dash out to each remnant's location, detonating them for AoE damage, and arriving at the one he targeted last. Remnants last 45 seconds or until you fuse with them. The remnant placing ability is limited by charges and not cooldown or manacost.
Remnant Charges: 3
Remnant Charge Replenish Time: 30 seconds
Remnant Duration: 45 seconds
Remnant Cast Range: 1500
The secondary ability lets you target a location closest to whichever Remnant you want to choose. Xin will then dash out going through each remnant, arriving at the selected remnant last. Each Remnant you go through causes it to detonate, dealing damage in the area around it.
Damage: 140/180/220
AOE: 450
Activate Remnant Manacost: 100
This skill is a bit confusing, so I'll explain. Every 30 seconds, Xin will replenish a "charge", which is a Fire Remnant. The number of charges you current have can be seen at the ulti icon as the number of paw prints there are. The charge replenish timer starts when the first charge is used. In other words, a charge replenishes itself in 30 seconds when used. If you play Starcraft a simple way to describe this skill is "Reaver shooting Scarabs".
When you deploy a Fire Remnant (1500 range >.< thats huge), it charges towards its location doing nothing but at 2.5x your speed. It will remain there for 45 seconds or until you activate it with the secondary skill.
The secondary skill causes Xin to dash towards each remnant in an order which I'm not so sure >.< but it always arrives at the one you targeted (closest to) last. When Xin dashes through a remnant it triggers it, dealing the amount of magic damage in the AoE.
This skill has a few implications.
1. Spawning the remnant has 1500 range and has no cooldown, neither does it cost any mana. Activating the remnant (basically running there) costs 100 mana, but has no cooldown. This means you can run at 2.5x your speed away from enemies as long as you have charges stocked up. Note that the Fire Remnant is not limited by the 522 speed cap.
2. Like I said earlier, the skill nor its subskill has cooldown. This allows you to chase at 2.5x your speed as well.
3. This has perfect synnergy with the other skills. The first and third skill require you to be within 400 AoE for them to have effect, and this allows you to chase. The second skill does not teleport you to the enemy, so this allows you to get up close, and to continue. In short, this is a ball lightning.
So far I keep saying how strong Xin is. Let's look at his weaknesses. They can be summed up as follows:
1. Low burst damage
None of his spells deal a lot of damage. Sure, Searing Chains deals 300 when you land it, and Flame Guard deals a bunch as well. But realize that an activated Fire Remnant deals a mere 140/180/220 damage in a 450 AoE when activated. That's less damage than a Shadowraze >.< You need all 3 Remnants activated to clear 1 wave of creeps.
This does not really hinder his farming capabilities though. Flame Guard is still an excellent skill for farming. What this does is it means that he is extremely reliant on physical attacks.
2. High item dependence
Almost a corollary of the above, he is useless late game without sufficient farming.
3. Not enough time to do everything
We noted earlier that Xin's skillset is perfect for ganking. To farm or to gank? One must prioritize and you can't do both at the same time...
The skillset for Xin is quite obvious. The early game Searing Chains / Flame Guard combo is extremely devastating, coupled with a 310 base movespeed. Mid-game, I suggest stats since Sleight of Fist is not really useful until you get out your core items. Finally, Sleight of Fist should be skilled at 17 or so. Fire Remnant is too good to pass up, so get it whenever you can.
The general strategy should be quite obvious by now. Kill whoever you can in the lane, but do not pass up on farm. Try to stay on a lane, ganking opponents who come. Do not be afraid to push, since a Fire Remnant lasts 45 seconds but it recharges in 30 seconds. You can throw them out for vision (it costs no mp, and has a 1500 range) and to run when you need to. Just remember to keep 100 mp to activate the remnants.
Item-wise, Xin does well early game with just a Ring of Basilius. It offers the mana regen, armour and damage you need to do the 3 things you need to do: 1. gank with skills, 2. farm and 3. push off harassment with a combination of innate high armour / hp and magic defense from flame guard. Treads is a must-have, and beyond that I suggest Battle Fury as a core item. The main reason for this is that Sleight of Fish is your main source of late game DPS, and this skill ignores attack speed so there's no point boosting attack speed. Instead you should aim for crit-cleaves that deal alot of damage in the AoE. Another reason why Battle Fury is good is that it comprises of Perseverence, which gives you enough regen to spam Flame Guard at creeps and to shrug off most forms of harassment in the lane. Following this, good items to get are Vladimir's Offering (upgrade your basilius), Buriza do-Kyanon (remember the crit-cleave strategy), and more Battle Furies. Divine Rapier is a decent consideration, since Xin is semi-invulnerable. Black King Bar or Linken's Sphere are also possible choices to guard against disables.
Xin is a hero gifted with an excellent moveset and hero specs, but unfortunately suffers from low stat growth and severe item dependence. An acute awareness of Xin's potential and an intricate farm-gank balance must be maintained in order to utilize his full potential.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Random DotA Trivia #6
Hurray for camping at home. Gotta start doing holiday homework -_-
The random trivia for today is:
Teleport spells such as Pudge's hook's scripting and Dark Seer's Vaccum work on invulnerable units.
Implications of this are:
1. You can hook tornadoes, as well as units which are rendered invulnerable by Bane Elemental's Nightmare and Naga Siren's Song of the Siren.
2. You can also Vacuum units affected by Song of the Siren, allowing the epic Naga + Dark Seer + Enigma + some massive AoE nuker like Shadow Fiend combo
The random trivia for today is:
Teleport spells such as Pudge's hook's scripting and Dark Seer's Vaccum work on invulnerable units.
Implications of this are:
1. You can hook tornadoes, as well as units which are rendered invulnerable by Bane Elemental's Nightmare and Naga Siren's Song of the Siren.
2. You can also Vacuum units affected by Song of the Siren, allowing the epic Naga + Dark Seer + Enigma + some massive AoE nuker like Shadow Fiend combo
Random DotA Trivia #5
Hurrah I am back from teh mountains so now I actually have internets :o
Anyway, the trivia for yesterday is:
Merry Christmas! DotA 6.73 is out. Sand King's Epicenter now goes through BKB -_- stupid IceFrog
Never mind that above. The random trivia for today is:
Double permanent invisibility allows you to attack without breaking the invisibility. This is most commonly set up by using Mirana's Moonlight Shadow in conjunction with Stealth Assassin's ultimate.
:3
Anyway, the trivia for yesterday is:
Merry Christmas! DotA 6.73 is out. Sand King's Epicenter now goes through BKB -_- stupid IceFrog
Never mind that above. The random trivia for today is:
Double permanent invisibility allows you to attack without breaking the invisibility. This is most commonly set up by using Mirana's Moonlight Shadow in conjunction with Stealth Assassin's ultimate.
:3
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Random DotA Trivia #4
I went to see some stone carvings. Apparently in Buddhism, raising chickens is a sin because if no one raises chickens no one would kill and eat chickens (which is killing, a sin). This is retarded because then everyone in heaven would be there because they didn't eat anything -_-
Anyway, here's the trivia for today:
Pudge's Meat Hook is made up of many "spikes", each is coded to appear a certain distance in front of Pudge. When the hook snags, Pudge shoots a Storm Bolt at the target, dealing 160/240/320/400 Pure Damage and stunning for 0.01 seconds.
Implications are:
1. Storm Bolt cannot target allies, so if you hook allies you deal no damage (obviously) but more importantly you do not stun so it doesn't cancel their channeling spells (e.g. Scroll of Town Portal, Freezing Field, Death Ward, Black Hole etc)
2. Storm Bolt cannot target enemies in fog of war, but they are coded to receive the damage anyway. However, it will no longer stun, hence it does not cancel spells being channeled in the fog (e.g. Scroll of Town Portal, Epicenter <-- lol yes you can hook a Sand King channeling ultimate outside into you -_-)
3. Due to the scripting of Pudge's hook, it can be extended, shortened, bent and even split depending on what happens. The hook appears a certain distance in front of PUDGE, not the previous spike. Therefore, if you (or a teammate) cast a spell on yourself that makes you move FORWARD (such as Force Staff), the hook moves further than usual and it is extended. The best application is to use Force Staff, extending the range of the hook by 700. If you get moved backwards (not very common), the hook will be shortened. If you turn using a shift-queue, you can bend the hook in the direction which you turned. Finally, using a spell that "teleports" Pudge will split the hook; the continuation of the hook will appear the appropriate distance in front of Pudge at his new location.
4. The scripting of Pudge's hook brings a target from one "spike" to the previous one, until it reaches the position where Pudge shoots the hook. Therefore, a target will always return to the location where Pudge shot the hook. (2 Pudges hooking each other will swap positions). They will teleport across the "split" portion of the hook, and be dragged over a larger distance if the hook was extended. This is most commonly applied in the Ezalor + Pudge or Wisp + Pudge combo, which can be employed to hook the enemy into your fountain.
:3
Anyway, here's the trivia for today:
Pudge's Meat Hook is made up of many "spikes", each is coded to appear a certain distance in front of Pudge. When the hook snags, Pudge shoots a Storm Bolt at the target, dealing 160/240/320/400 Pure Damage and stunning for 0.01 seconds.
Implications are:
1. Storm Bolt cannot target allies, so if you hook allies you deal no damage (obviously) but more importantly you do not stun so it doesn't cancel their channeling spells (e.g. Scroll of Town Portal, Freezing Field, Death Ward, Black Hole etc)
2. Storm Bolt cannot target enemies in fog of war, but they are coded to receive the damage anyway. However, it will no longer stun, hence it does not cancel spells being channeled in the fog (e.g. Scroll of Town Portal, Epicenter <-- lol yes you can hook a Sand King channeling ultimate outside into you -_-)
3. Due to the scripting of Pudge's hook, it can be extended, shortened, bent and even split depending on what happens. The hook appears a certain distance in front of PUDGE, not the previous spike. Therefore, if you (or a teammate) cast a spell on yourself that makes you move FORWARD (such as Force Staff), the hook moves further than usual and it is extended. The best application is to use Force Staff, extending the range of the hook by 700. If you get moved backwards (not very common), the hook will be shortened. If you turn using a shift-queue, you can bend the hook in the direction which you turned. Finally, using a spell that "teleports" Pudge will split the hook; the continuation of the hook will appear the appropriate distance in front of Pudge at his new location.
4. The scripting of Pudge's hook brings a target from one "spike" to the previous one, until it reaches the position where Pudge shoots the hook. Therefore, a target will always return to the location where Pudge shot the hook. (2 Pudges hooking each other will swap positions). They will teleport across the "split" portion of the hook, and be dragged over a larger distance if the hook was extended. This is most commonly applied in the Ezalor + Pudge or Wisp + Pudge combo, which can be employed to hook the enemy into your fountain.
:3
Friday, December 23, 2011
Random DotA Trivia #3
I am back from Faerie Mountain :D and no I did not see Puck. Neither did I see any flying foxes up there on the snow mountain o.o
Here's the Random Trivia for today:
Shadow Fiend's Shadowraze has a 0.75 second cast time. It can be cancelled with the S command at any time during this cast time. Cancelling it within 0.5 seconds cancels the raze, but after 0.5 seconds, the raze is considered cast and S-cancelling it will shorten the raze cast time from 0.75 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
This is how PIS/Yamateh/Loda/KuroKy/everyone else razes so fast :o
:3
Here's the Random Trivia for today:
Shadow Fiend's Shadowraze has a 0.75 second cast time. It can be cancelled with the S command at any time during this cast time. Cancelling it within 0.5 seconds cancels the raze, but after 0.5 seconds, the raze is considered cast and S-cancelling it will shorten the raze cast time from 0.75 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
This is how PIS/Yamateh/Loda/KuroKy/everyone else razes so fast :o
:3
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Random DotA Trivia #2
I'm in China now yay. Still have blogger ha.
The Random Trivia for today is:
All ultimate spells bypass magic immunity, but magic immunity grants immunity to magic damage. Therefore all ultimate spells will deal no damage but still have their effects.
Implications of this are:
1. Ultimates which purely deal damage e.g. Slayer's Laguna Blade have no effect on magic immune targets except wasting it.
2. Ultimates which disable will still disable e.g. Doom Bringer's Doom, Bane Elemental's Fiend's Grip etc, except they deal no damage.
3. Ultimates based on non-ultimate spells will have no effect on magic immune targets. e.g. Tidehunter's Ravage, Sand King's Epicenter
:3
The Random Trivia for today is:
All ultimate spells bypass magic immunity, but magic immunity grants immunity to magic damage. Therefore all ultimate spells will deal no damage but still have their effects.
Implications of this are:
1. Ultimates which purely deal damage e.g. Slayer's Laguna Blade have no effect on magic immune targets except wasting it.
2. Ultimates which disable will still disable e.g. Doom Bringer's Doom, Bane Elemental's Fiend's Grip etc, except they deal no damage.
3. Ultimates based on non-ultimate spells will have no effect on magic immune targets. e.g. Tidehunter's Ravage, Sand King's Epicenter
:3
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Random DotA Trivia #1
Whee its holiday times!
Oh wait that was last month. Holidays almost over already blah.
Anyway I'm going on vacation again so I shall revive this blog for the most useless thing ever: Random DotA Trivia (Y)
Today's trivia is:
"Axe's Counter Helix is triggered by the attack front-swing, not the attack itself nor the command. "
Implications of this are:
1. Repeatedly pressing A and left clicking on Axe will not trigger Counter Helix.
2. Pressing S repeatedly while affected by Berserker's Call INCREASES the rate at which Axe spins. This is because Berserker's Call issues an attack command on Axe everytime you issue another command, and everytime the attack command is issued at such close range the front-swing plays, giving a 17% chance to spin.
3. Some spells use the attack front-swing as the casting animation. Examples are Lion's Impale and Tidehunter's Gush. Casting these spells on Axe WILL trigger Counter Helix because it plays the attack front-swing.
4. Counter Helix triggers the moment the attack front-swing plays, not when the projectile hits Axe (for ranged attackers).
:3
Oh wait that was last month. Holidays almost over already blah.
Anyway I'm going on vacation again so I shall revive this blog for the most useless thing ever: Random DotA Trivia (Y)
Today's trivia is:
"Axe's Counter Helix is triggered by the attack front-swing, not the attack itself nor the command. "
Implications of this are:
1. Repeatedly pressing A and left clicking on Axe will not trigger Counter Helix.
2. Pressing S repeatedly while affected by Berserker's Call INCREASES the rate at which Axe spins. This is because Berserker's Call issues an attack command on Axe everytime you issue another command, and everytime the attack command is issued at such close range the front-swing plays, giving a 17% chance to spin.
3. Some spells use the attack front-swing as the casting animation. Examples are Lion's Impale and Tidehunter's Gush. Casting these spells on Axe WILL trigger Counter Helix because it plays the attack front-swing.
4. Counter Helix triggers the moment the attack front-swing plays, not when the projectile hits Axe (for ranged attackers).
:3
Monday, September 26, 2011
Chemical of the Day: Cyclohexane
Err today's chemical is cyclohexane! Thankfully its not too interesting, since I want to sleep : <
Stupid promos are going to kill me soon.
Name: Cyclohexane
IUPAC Name: Cyclohexane
Other names: None (not surprising right there.)
Molecular Formula: C6H12 (note resemblence to hexene)
Molar Mass: 84.16g/mol
Appearance (at r.t.p.): Colourless liquid
Solubility in water: Immiscible (not surprising either)
Dipole Moment: 0.0D (SURPRISE!)
Synthesis:
1. Benzene can be forcibly hydrogenated through the use of the strong catalyst, for example Pd/C under extreme temperatures and pressures (over 250atm pressure required, not sure the temperature). However a more powerful catalyst such as rhodium activated by acid is often used in industrial processes (this requires only 70Degrees C temperature and 20atm pressure of H2 gas).
I don't really know of any other synthesis pathways, except by funny things like intra-molecular nucleophilic substitution or something.
This might work in a lab, but the yield is probably not appreciable.
Properties:
1. Cyclohexane is most commonly studied for being the smallest alicyclic hydrocarbon with absolutely no ring strain at all. This is due to the stability of the "chair" conformer. Conformations in cyclohexane draws plenty of interest, and for a good reason too. It was once thought that alicyclic hydrocarbons were all planar (as if they were aromatic XD) but in reality its not the case. Each carbon in the ring is sp3 hybridized, hence is tetrahedral in shape. The 12 hydrogens are divided into 2 groups: 6 "axial" hydrogens, and 6 "equitorial" positions. The positions of the groups attached to the cyclohexane ring makes a difference to its reaction chemistry (especially regioselective processes). Lastly, cyclohexane also exhibits a "ring flip" rearrangement, where the axial and equitorial positions interchange with each other.
2. Cyclohexane exists only in 2 stable conformers, the "chair" conformer and the "boat" conformer. Suppose one of these carbons is substituted by a halogen atom. One look shows that typical nucleophilic substitution reactions (SN2 in this case) will not work on it as it is not possible for the nucleophile to attack from the opposite side of the carbon; it is blocked by the ring. Therefore, bromocyclohexane does NOT form cyclohexanol even in aqueous NaOH; instead it undergoes the more preferred elimination reaction to form cyclohexene.
3. It is non-polar and hydrophobic. Not surprising at all, considering its a hydrocarbon. Its main forces of attraction are dispersion forces, while water associates with hydrogen bonding. Needless to say solvent - solvent interactions and solute - solute interactions are much stronger than solvent-solute interactions; there's no way cyclohexane will dissolve in water.
4. Cyclohexane is highly flammable. Not a surprise once again, being a hydrocarbon.
Reactions:
Well cyclohexane is a non-polar, hydrophobic, alicyclic hydrocarbon, so it is not very reactive. It is forcibly protonated by a superacid such as the HF + SbF5 system, leading to hydrocarbon cracking.
Substituted cyclohexanes undergo their usual reactions with little difference; halides still undergo Grignard reactions, organometallic coupling still works as per normal. Alcohols can still be substituted to give a halide, and dehydrated to obtain an alkene. Esterification also occurs as per normal.
Other random crap:
Cyclohexane is boring. At least that means I can sleep. Yay!
Stupid promos are going to kill me soon.
Name: Cyclohexane
IUPAC Name: Cyclohexane
Other names: None (not surprising right there.)
Molecular Formula: C6H12 (note resemblence to hexene)
Molar Mass: 84.16g/mol
Appearance (at r.t.p.): Colourless liquid
Solubility in water: Immiscible (not surprising either)
Dipole Moment: 0.0D (SURPRISE!)
Synthesis:
1. Benzene can be forcibly hydrogenated through the use of the strong catalyst, for example Pd/C under extreme temperatures and pressures (over 250atm pressure required, not sure the temperature). However a more powerful catalyst such as rhodium activated by acid is often used in industrial processes (this requires only 70Degrees C temperature and 20atm pressure of H2 gas).
I don't really know of any other synthesis pathways, except by funny things like intra-molecular nucleophilic substitution or something.
This might work in a lab, but the yield is probably not appreciable.
Properties:
1. Cyclohexane is most commonly studied for being the smallest alicyclic hydrocarbon with absolutely no ring strain at all. This is due to the stability of the "chair" conformer. Conformations in cyclohexane draws plenty of interest, and for a good reason too. It was once thought that alicyclic hydrocarbons were all planar (as if they were aromatic XD) but in reality its not the case. Each carbon in the ring is sp3 hybridized, hence is tetrahedral in shape. The 12 hydrogens are divided into 2 groups: 6 "axial" hydrogens, and 6 "equitorial" positions. The positions of the groups attached to the cyclohexane ring makes a difference to its reaction chemistry (especially regioselective processes). Lastly, cyclohexane also exhibits a "ring flip" rearrangement, where the axial and equitorial positions interchange with each other.
2. Cyclohexane exists only in 2 stable conformers, the "chair" conformer and the "boat" conformer. Suppose one of these carbons is substituted by a halogen atom. One look shows that typical nucleophilic substitution reactions (SN2 in this case) will not work on it as it is not possible for the nucleophile to attack from the opposite side of the carbon; it is blocked by the ring. Therefore, bromocyclohexane does NOT form cyclohexanol even in aqueous NaOH; instead it undergoes the more preferred elimination reaction to form cyclohexene.
3. It is non-polar and hydrophobic. Not surprising at all, considering its a hydrocarbon. Its main forces of attraction are dispersion forces, while water associates with hydrogen bonding. Needless to say solvent - solvent interactions and solute - solute interactions are much stronger than solvent-solute interactions; there's no way cyclohexane will dissolve in water.
4. Cyclohexane is highly flammable. Not a surprise once again, being a hydrocarbon.
Reactions:
Well cyclohexane is a non-polar, hydrophobic, alicyclic hydrocarbon, so it is not very reactive. It is forcibly protonated by a superacid such as the HF + SbF5 system, leading to hydrocarbon cracking.
Substituted cyclohexanes undergo their usual reactions with little difference; halides still undergo Grignard reactions, organometallic coupling still works as per normal. Alcohols can still be substituted to give a halide, and dehydrated to obtain an alkene. Esterification also occurs as per normal.
Other random crap:
Cyclohexane is boring. At least that means I can sleep. Yay!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Chemical of the Day: Phenol
Lol today's Chemical of the Day is phenol. At first I wanted to do benzene but I realized that wasn't as interesting :D Anyway lets get started.
Name: Phenol (wow!)
IUPAC name: Phenol (lol)
Other names: Carbolic acid, hydroxybenzene, benzenol, phenylic acid, phenic acid
*comment: strictly speaking, phenol is not an acid, but we'll talk about this later
Molecular formula: C6H5OH
Molar mass: 94.11g/mol
Appearance (at r.t.p.): transparent crystalline solid
Solubility in water: 8.3g/100mL (decent)
Dipole moment: 1.7D (rather large, but not unexpected)
Synthesis:
1. The most common synthesis pathway for phenol is the Cumene Process.
Benzene + Propene + [O] --> Acetone + Phenol
The intermediate in this reaction is cumene (isopropylbenzene) which is formed by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of propene onto benzene. The reaction continues via a radical mechanism followed by a rearrangement (Hock's Rearrangement) and elimination reaction to produce acetone and phenol.
2. Another common industrial synthesis pathway for phenol is Dow's Process
Chlorobenzene + NaOH (aq) --340 degrees C, 170atm--> Phenol + NaCl
This reaction is interesting because it proceeds via a benzyne intermediate (HCl is eliminated from chlorobenzene, if you'd like) and OH- adds to the triple bond in to form phenol.
There are few synthesis routes available in the laboratory, since the benzene ring is inert to electrophilic addition and oxidation. As a result most of the phenol used in the lab is obtained via the petrochemical industry (lol).
Properties:
1. The hydroxyl group attached to the benzene ring is a strongly activating group due to oxygen being able to delocalize its lone pairs into the pi electron system. This makes the benzene ring extremely favourable to electrophilic substitution reactions. In fact, nitrating a benzene ring with a hydroxyl group attached no longer requires concentrated nitric acid; dilute nitric acid is sufficient. Furthermore, halogenation of phenol no longer requires the catalyst (it occurs spontaneously) and halogenates at all 3 o- and p- positions since the halide group is such a weak deactivator but hydroxyl is a strong enough activator to cause polysubstitution. Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation still require their Lewis acid catalysts, but occur in much milder conditions (e.g. phenol reacts with alcohols in the presence of an acid catalyst to add the alkyl group) and polyalkylation frequently.
2. Phenol is actually the enol tautomer of its keto-enol pair. The keto form is cyclohexa-2,4-dienone and is extremely unstable. The formation of a C=O bond rather than a C=C bond is favourable, but that is more than offset by the loss of resonance stability due to aromaticity. Phenol is hence a notable exception to the norm of keto-enol tautomerism, since most such pairs usually favour the keto form.
3. Phenol is not an acid, but the word "acid" commonly pops up in its name. Its pKa in water is 9.95, about 1 million times more acidic than most aliphatic alcohols such as ethanol (pKa 15.9). This is due to the stability of the phenoxide / phenolate anion which is resonance stabilized by the benzene ring. An alternate explanation is that there is orbital overlap between the lone pairs of the oxygen atom and the delocalized pi network.
4. Phenol is corrosive, but there is no evidence whether it is carcinogenic (benzene, however is a known carcinogen).
Reactions:
1. The obvious, electrophilic substitution. Phenol is a special case though, since it undergoes Friedel-Crafts acylation in 2 different ways. Phenol has 2 sites to which electrophiles may attack: the electrically rich benzene ring, and the lone pairs of the oxygen atom.
When the electrophilic attack occurs on the benzene ring, its termed C-acylation and the "normal" Friedel-Crafts acylation occurs. When the electrophilic attack occurs on the oxygen however, O-acylation occurs and an aryl ester is formed.
2. Phenol + zinc powder --> Benzene
One of the more useful reactions to know, when they ask for funny things like converting phenol into methyl phenyl ketone.
3. Use of the phenoxide anion:
Williamson ether synthesis with the phenoxide anion allows for easy synthesis of aryl ethers.
The phenoxide anion is a potent (though not very strong) base and a strong nucleophile. It can attack ketones and aldehydes.
Other random crap:
None I think. Most of the interesting stuff is up there already :D
Let's see what should Fan Yi do next.
Name: Phenol (wow!)
IUPAC name: Phenol (lol)
Other names: Carbolic acid, hydroxybenzene, benzenol, phenylic acid, phenic acid
*comment: strictly speaking, phenol is not an acid, but we'll talk about this later
Molecular formula: C6H5OH
Molar mass: 94.11g/mol
Appearance (at r.t.p.): transparent crystalline solid
Solubility in water: 8.3g/100mL (decent)
Dipole moment: 1.7D (rather large, but not unexpected)
Synthesis:
1. The most common synthesis pathway for phenol is the Cumene Process.
Benzene + Propene + [O] --> Acetone + Phenol
The intermediate in this reaction is cumene (isopropylbenzene) which is formed by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of propene onto benzene. The reaction continues via a radical mechanism followed by a rearrangement (Hock's Rearrangement) and elimination reaction to produce acetone and phenol.
2. Another common industrial synthesis pathway for phenol is Dow's Process
Chlorobenzene + NaOH (aq) --340 degrees C, 170atm--> Phenol + NaCl
This reaction is interesting because it proceeds via a benzyne intermediate (HCl is eliminated from chlorobenzene, if you'd like) and OH- adds to the triple bond in to form phenol.
There are few synthesis routes available in the laboratory, since the benzene ring is inert to electrophilic addition and oxidation. As a result most of the phenol used in the lab is obtained via the petrochemical industry (lol).
Properties:
1. The hydroxyl group attached to the benzene ring is a strongly activating group due to oxygen being able to delocalize its lone pairs into the pi electron system. This makes the benzene ring extremely favourable to electrophilic substitution reactions. In fact, nitrating a benzene ring with a hydroxyl group attached no longer requires concentrated nitric acid; dilute nitric acid is sufficient. Furthermore, halogenation of phenol no longer requires the catalyst (it occurs spontaneously) and halogenates at all 3 o- and p- positions since the halide group is such a weak deactivator but hydroxyl is a strong enough activator to cause polysubstitution. Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation still require their Lewis acid catalysts, but occur in much milder conditions (e.g. phenol reacts with alcohols in the presence of an acid catalyst to add the alkyl group) and polyalkylation frequently.
2. Phenol is actually the enol tautomer of its keto-enol pair. The keto form is cyclohexa-2,4-dienone and is extremely unstable. The formation of a C=O bond rather than a C=C bond is favourable, but that is more than offset by the loss of resonance stability due to aromaticity. Phenol is hence a notable exception to the norm of keto-enol tautomerism, since most such pairs usually favour the keto form.
3. Phenol is not an acid, but the word "acid" commonly pops up in its name. Its pKa in water is 9.95, about 1 million times more acidic than most aliphatic alcohols such as ethanol (pKa 15.9). This is due to the stability of the phenoxide / phenolate anion which is resonance stabilized by the benzene ring. An alternate explanation is that there is orbital overlap between the lone pairs of the oxygen atom and the delocalized pi network.
4. Phenol is corrosive, but there is no evidence whether it is carcinogenic (benzene, however is a known carcinogen).
Reactions:
1. The obvious, electrophilic substitution. Phenol is a special case though, since it undergoes Friedel-Crafts acylation in 2 different ways. Phenol has 2 sites to which electrophiles may attack: the electrically rich benzene ring, and the lone pairs of the oxygen atom.
When the electrophilic attack occurs on the benzene ring, its termed C-acylation and the "normal" Friedel-Crafts acylation occurs. When the electrophilic attack occurs on the oxygen however, O-acylation occurs and an aryl ester is formed.
2. Phenol + zinc powder --> Benzene
One of the more useful reactions to know, when they ask for funny things like converting phenol into methyl phenyl ketone.
3. Use of the phenoxide anion:
Williamson ether synthesis with the phenoxide anion allows for easy synthesis of aryl ethers.
The phenoxide anion is a potent (though not very strong) base and a strong nucleophile. It can attack ketones and aldehydes.
Other random crap:
None I think. Most of the interesting stuff is up there already :D
Let's see what should Fan Yi do next.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Chemical of the Day Preamble
Woot I'm finally back after ignoring for so long -.- blogging is not so fun or easy as I thought... sometimes.
Anyway, Fan Yi and I started this Chemical of the Day thingy, where we got 1 (hopefully interesting) chemical everyday featured. We're alternating, and he's taking inorg stuff (surprise!) and I take the org stuff. Hoping for some cool things :D
Anyway, I need to study for promos! I'm going to die at this rate after screwing up econs rawr.
Anyway, Fan Yi and I started this Chemical of the Day thingy, where we got 1 (hopefully interesting) chemical everyday featured. We're alternating, and he's taking inorg stuff (surprise!) and I take the org stuff. Hoping for some cool things :D
Anyway, I need to study for promos! I'm going to die at this rate after screwing up econs rawr.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Week-end To-do's )=
Anyway I've been slacking off the week after blocks, so taking the time off this weekend to do some work >.<
Here's what I have to do (blah).
1. Math Tutorial 5C
2. Chem Tutorial 6
3. Read Physics Oscilliations notes
4. Write my new 2C system
5. Do EoM <-- >.<
6. Do physics AA
Lol I have a feeling this is short of what I actually have to do, but we'll see if I can finish :P
Here's what I have to do (blah).
1. Math Tutorial 5C
2. Chem Tutorial 6
3. Read Physics Oscilliations notes
4. Write my new 2C system
5. Do EoM <-- >.<
6. Do physics AA
Lol I have a feeling this is short of what I actually have to do, but we'll see if I can finish :P
Monday, June 13, 2011
I'm back =)
In Albany, not in Singapore though :P
Still have 1 more week before going back to Singapore, so ppl waiting to DotA, -_- hang on a sec :D
Anyway, I've finished reading the Precision Club document so can play yay. I don't feel like putting up with Kai Cong anymore >.< and seniors (eh hem) have advised me to switch partner soon if I don't feel comfortable with my current one so yea :X
I do want to play Precision Club with Benjamin, but I don't know what LFX would do =/ and Benjy hasn't really agreed yet so we'll see how that goes -_-
Bridge is a really complicated affair o.O
And now I hope I'm actually more motivated (hopefully yea) to study now that I've been to all these nice colleges that I like so yea :O
So we have prepping for blocks and SMO -.- as well as playing bridge o.o
Rawr.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Going away for some time ~
Sry for daoing you, blog DDDD:
Anyways, somehow my bad influence meter is spoilt here -_- so I can't check if Fan Yi is looking at my blog. Damnit.
Never mind -.-
I'm going to Niagara Falls and Ithaca for the next few days, so will be away with no internet blahz.
Still going to have some fun yea :D
Then I shall go back to New York City to get Lien's drawing (lol). I'm done with souvenirs! yay! =)
Crap I have long nails now D: need to get nail clippers rawr.
Back to Singapore in a week :P
And going to have 1 week left to mug for blocks D:
RAWR. I shall go get As for blocks :D And hopefully most (>.<) of my wishes for this year would come true :D Seeing that I'm not too likely to get top 30 in SMO this year DD: but nevermind! I'll work harder next year ): < seeing I had like 5 careless mistakes in first round WTF.
And CHEMO zomg. Shall mug moarrrr!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Slacking off some more lalalala
Sienzor more emoing is coming =/
Anyways, the seniors lost nationals, being 2nd again -_- so now zhou_my and I have more pressure now whee
I have no idea what Kai Cong is doing, and I will probably drop him as my partner (-.-")
Currently trying out Precision with Benjamin so maybe we'll play together next year, or even later this year if we make good headway ~ Precision Club is going to be more exciting =)
Also, I found some souvenirs to buy for ppl XD
Fan Yi is going to get a pair of dice (Y) and I'm probably going to give Muyun a necklace (lol), Lien a nice drawing and a piece of agate (lolx2), and havn't decided what to give to MQ yet.
Hopefully I don't get spammed with souvenir requests >.< These stuff are actually quite expensive in US you know -_-
Monday, June 6, 2011
Typical day in USA (errr lol)
Hmm another day has passed in USA. Seems pretty uneventful, but quite a bit has happened anyway.
I was staying at home slacking for like the whole day so \o/
Though I did bring huge stacks of stuff to read (blah block tests ):), so ended up reading those >.<
Managed to make the SC1 campaign work in SC2, so would be playing those sometime soon.
Also found the plan for the new hero I was working on some time ago, so might be continuing on that too.
Anyway, today is my cousin (and my father lol)'s birthday, so we went out for dinner. On the way back from dinner I saw an Angel's Stairway (2nd time in USA lol, they must have plenty of these or smth). For people who don't know whats an Angel's Stairway, err go find google pics or wikipedia or smth :P
My cousin's sister (also my cousin (Y)) had a concert today, so I went to watch that after dinner.
She's in 7th Grade and plays the viola (in my opinion the most useless string instrument, but I may be wrong :P). Their orchestra is nothing compared to our String Ensemble of course (XD) but for 7th Graders they did put up a very good show.
Still thinking of what gifts to get >.<
MQ says anything except H, but you'll hardly find any H here in USA, so that wasn't an option in the first place. Fan Yi wants something usable, which is not all that easy to find, but we'll see :P
I have no idea what to get for Muyun rawr. I have thought of what to get for Lien, so shall buy that next time I go over to New York City ;D
Somehow people think I have a girlfriend and keep bugging me over who it is (-.-") and I shall not say anything about that (lol suspense ftw!). Please stop suggesting it is Lien, tyvm.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
in USA!
Yay I'm in USA now for vacation XD
Actually was here for like 2 days already, but had no internet access so =/
Anyway, let's see how long it takes before Fan Yi finds my blog post (Y)
I actually took photos! <-- :O some only, and they're slooooowly being uploaded onto facebook at the moment.
I doubt I'll be dotaing here at all, seeing how lousy the connection is, but I'll probably go on and play bridge lots. However need to time properly (lol) because I'm currently at -4GMT and Singapore is +8GMT so =/
Shall wake up on time to play bridge lolol
Today we went to University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, both of which were rather interesting HOWEVER they don't allow me into their libraries so MEH. rawr.
Also ate ice cream <-- lolrandom but \o/
Watched National Treasure again, just for fun, and ate at Subway (lol).
Havn't exactly thought of what souvenirs to buy yet, except for Lien (top priority lolol), but hopefully I'll get to it in a while -.-
Thats it for now I guess, go sleepz XD
Saturday, May 7, 2011
more epic convos ftw
>.<
这个表情总能让我想起一个翘着鼻子的狗狗。。。。
这个表情总能让我想起一个翘着鼻子的狗狗。。。。
Today
ksj帮我们拉了两位学长帮我们打 
之前希望在scba赢几场
lol
这个比较好办
bridge captain
感觉只有我一跟人
zhoumy也是run for president
反正pres有很多人，所以你要加油了
我会马上申请选一个vice cap
什么叫做“义务帮忙”
lol
为什么对这个感兴趣
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