Award-Winning Organic Chemistry Tutors
serving Reading, PA

Reaction mechanisms are the backbone of organic chemistry, and most students struggle not because the material is impossibly hard but because they try to memorize hundreds of reactions instead of learning the handful of electron-pushing patterns that explain almost all of them. Rebecca's science training means she teaches students to read a mechanism the way you'd read a sentence — subject, verb, object — so new reactions become predictable rather than surprising.

Most students dread organic chemistry because it feels like a new language, but the logic underneath reaction mechanisms is surprisingly consistent once someone lays it out clearly. Ade approaches each reaction type — substitution, elimination, addition — by teaching students to read electron movement and predict products rather than memorize hundreds of individual reactions.

Reaction mechanisms are the backbone of organic chemistry, and most exam mistakes trace back to shaky arrow-pushing fundamentals. Abhinav teaches students to classify reactions by nucleophile-electrophile interactions first, then layer on stereochemistry and regiochemistry — an approach that turns a seemingly infinite number of reactions into a manageable set of patterns.

Reaction mechanisms are the backbone of Organic Chemistry, and learning to push electrons through an SN1, SN2, or E2 pathway requires a kind of visual logic that's very different from Gen Chem. Tom's neurobiology concentration at Penn meant he encountered organic reactions in both the classroom and the lab, giving him a practical feel for how functional groups behave. He teaches students to recognize patterns across reaction types so new mechanisms feel like variations on a theme rather than entirely new material.

Reaction mechanisms are really just stories told with curved arrows, and Zain teaches students to read them that way — tracking electron flow through substitution, elimination, and addition reactions until predicting products feels intuitive. His chemistry major at Swarthmore included extensive organic coursework, and it's one of his most-tutored subjects.

Reaction mechanisms are the backbone of organic chemistry, and most students struggle because they try to memorize arrow-pushing patterns instead of understanding nucleophilicity, sterics, and leaving-group ability. Mary taught organic chemistry as an undergraduate TA at Pitt, spending hours each week walking students through substitution, elimination, and addition reactions until the logic behind each mechanism became second nature.

Reaction mechanisms are the language of organic chemistry, and Sophie approaches them as logic puzzles rather than sequences to memorize. Her dual science background and MCAT prep experience mean she can walk through arrow-pushing, stereochemistry, and substitution-versus-elimination decisions with the kind of systematic reasoning that turns a confusing course into a manageable one.

Steven studied organismal physiology at Drexel, which meant working through organic chemistry not as a standalone course but as a tool for understanding how molecules behave in living systems — enzyme active sites, metabolic intermediates, drug interactions at the molecular level. That biological context gives him a practical angle on topics like carbonyl chemistry and stereoselectivity that pure mechanism drilling often misses. Rated 5.0 by students.

I am currently a graduate student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware. I am working on using magnetic and flow fields to create advanced materials by directing the self-assembly process of nanoparticles . I have tutored students in Chemistry, Physics and Math all throughout undergraduate and graduate work. I truly enjoy breaking material down into its core components that allows the students to understand complicated information.

Michael's bioengineering coursework at Pitt means he learned organic chemistry as the foundation for understanding drug interactions, biomaterial design, and the molecular logic behind physiological systems — not as a standalone course to survive and forget. He tackles reaction mechanisms by encouraging students to visualize electron flow and functional group behavior in three dimensions, connecting arrow-pushing to the physical reality of how molecules actually collide and rearrange. Rated 5.0 by students.

Reaction mechanisms click when you stop memorizing arrow-pushing patterns and start understanding electron density, nucleophilicity, and sterics as a connected system. Michael's doctoral research in materials chemistry required him to design and troubleshoot multi-step syntheses, so he teaches organic chemistry the way a working chemist actually thinks through it.

Reaction mechanisms are the language of organic chemistry, and Kristina speaks it fluently enough to teach both Orgo I and Orgo II. She approaches each mechanism — whether it's nucleophilic substitution, carbonyl addition, or aromatic electrophilic substitution — by training students to track electron movement and recognize patterns, so new reactions start to feel predictable instead of overwhelming.

I enjoy helping students get to where they want to go there are few things more rewarding to me than seeing your success unfold before my eyes! I am a strong believer that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, starts somewhere. Let me give you an example: there once was a student who was in danger of failing out of high school heading into their senior year. That student didn't like the direction their life was going, and they decided to enroll in a community college program. After a lot of failing, trying again, failing some more.that student received a scholarship to attend a Top 50-ranked program. Impossible? I say not, because that student was me! I fell into retail management at an early age, and this motivated me to do better for myself. I enrolled as a student at Northampton Community College and, later, I was one of just three community college transfer students accepted into Lehigh University for the Fall 2019 semester. By the time it was all said and done, I attained five college degrees (yes you read that correctly). I have a B.S. in Molecular Biology, B.S. in Biochemistry, B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience, A.S. in Biological Sciences, and A.S. in Chemistry. Along the way, I worked numerous jobs in order to sustain myself through school. Some of these roles included being a mathematics tutor (from pre-algebra through Calculus III), a teaching assistant in the Biological Sciences Department of Lehigh University where I taught Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory techniques in addition to Genetics Laboratory Techniques. Outside of teaching, I spent more than 3 years working as an emergency room technician at a Level I Trauma Center throughout the majority of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, I work as a Separations Scientist for a confidential pharmaceutical company (Pharma takes confidentiality very seriously so seriously, in fact, that I can only share general pieces of information regarding my job and very, very little specifics as a result of a strict confidentiality agreement). And now, I like to tutor budding students, such as yourself, as a way to help you get to where you want to be. Additionally, I performed original research in a molecular biology-focused laboratory and a biochemistry-focused laboratory. I completed an Honors Thesis in the molecular biology-focused laboratory, and these findings were published in Bioelectricity (see link here if you're interested: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/bioe.2023.0018). As you can imagine, I tutor a lot of subjects, some of which include general chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, developmental biology, cell biology, microbiology, analytical chemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, and.well, you get the point. My favorite subject to tutor, however, is organic chemistry. Why? Because, like many of you, it was a subject I struggled with initially. In fact, I had to retake both organic chemistry and biochemistry as an undergraduate student! By focusing on where my strengths were (and areas of opportunity), I enhanced my skillset using a step-wise approach (and lots of coffee). Nobody is born with an inherent wealth of knowledge, and I hope that I can show you that this is indeed the reality. The good news? You are already more than capable of achieving the success that brought you here in the first place. My teaching philosophy is simple: take the time to get to know each student as an individual, adapt to their unique learning and communication styles (including awareness of disabilities), and work WITH you to help you unlock your best potential. I will balance telling you what I know without robbing you of the opportunity to learn for yourself, and I will strongly consider your feedback in order to adjust my style to best meet your needs. Some cool experiences outside of the above subjects: I spent nearly one month in Sierra Leone during the summer of 2022, a Western African nation home to one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. I was the group leader for a project known as Ukweli Test Strips, a social entrepreneurial venture that aims to lower maternal mortality through low-cost, early-and-often urinary tract infection (UTI) and preeclampsia screenings through our urinary test strips. I worked directly with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and Sanitation, and I was responsible for maintaining a service level agreement (SLA) that allowed us to legally operate within the public healthcare system of Sierra Leone. As part of this work, I conducted more than 100 semi-structured interviews of locals within the villages, and I even got to fly over Timbuktu (not kidding)!

Currently studying chemistry at the undergraduate level, Amina is building her organic chemistry knowledge in real time — which means she remembers exactly where arrow-pushing stops making sense and where functional group reactivity starts to click. She tackles mechanisms by working through practice problems alongside students, using the same strategies she's developing in her own coursework to make electron flow and reaction predictions feel systematic rather than random.

Reaction mechanisms only click when you stop memorizing arrows and start seeing electron density. Kevin spent years as a chemistry TA walking students through nucleophilic substitutions, eliminations, and carbonyl additions, and his biochemistry background means he can show exactly where organic chemistry concepts resurface in biological systems.

Anthropology might seem far from organic chemistry, but Dana's coursework in biological anthropology required understanding molecular structures and biochemical processes at the cellular level — functional groups, bonding behavior, and the chemical logic that underpins human biology. She uses that cross-disciplinary perspective to walk through reaction types and electron movement in a way that prioritizes understanding the 'why' behind each mechanism.

I'm available to tutor biology, chemistry, physics, math from Algebra up through AP Calculus, SAT test prep, and French. I've been tutoring students in science and math for 7 years. I also spent 8 months working and studying in France, and have tutored high school and adult students in French. When I'm not working or studying, I love playing volleyball (indoors or on the beach!) and spending time outside, canoeing or hiking with my dog. I look forward to meeting and working with you!

I have been teaching chemistry classes (Organic Chemistry I & II, General Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry) at top-level universities in the US for the past ten years and I am passionate about helping students gain confidence in a challenging subject such as Organic Chemistry. Nothing is greater for me (and of course the student) than when it suddenly "clicks"! When tutoring, I like to draw out the problem/reaction step by step first myself, and then use a different example of the same problem/reaction and have the student explain to me how it is solved.

Reaction mechanisms are the language of organic chemistry, and Jon spent his Master's work at Princeton immersed in that language daily. He unpacks arrow-pushing, stereochemistry, and functional group reactivity by tying each mechanism back to the electron behavior driving it, so students build intuition instead of relying on rote memorization. His TA students at Princeton gave him reviews strong enough to earn a teaching award — a good sign for anyone staring down a semester of orgo.

Having earned a chemistry degree from Yale, Zosia spent years immersed in the subject well past the introductory orgo sequence — which means she can contextualize tricky topics like electrophilic aromatic substitution and acyl chemistry within the broader landscape of how molecules actually behave. She walks students through spectral analysis and multi-step synthesis by building from first principles of electronegativity and sterics, so each new reaction type feels like an extension of what they already know rather than a fresh page to memorize. Rated 4.9 by students.

Reaction mechanisms are the language of organic chemistry, and Troy spent two semesters teaching that language as an organic chemistry TA. He walks students through arrow-pushing, stereochemical outcomes, and retrosynthetic analysis by emphasizing the handful of recurring electronic patterns that make hundreds of reactions predictable rather than random.

Reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry reward the same kind of systematic thinking that drives engineering design: track the electrons, identify the functional groups, and predict what happens next. Lee teaches students to read mechanisms as stories with cause and effect — nucleophile attacks electrophile, leaving group departs — instead of memorizing hundreds of individual reactions. His biomedical background adds context for why specific organic reactions matter in drug design and biochemistry.

Reaction mechanisms become far less intimidating when you can see the electron movement as a story rather than a set of arrows to memorize. Monika's biochemistry degree required deep fluency in organic chemistry — from nucleophilic substitutions through multi-step synthesis — and she teaches students to predict products by understanding why electrons move, not just where.

Being on the pre-med track at Northwestern while studying both biology and chemistry means Kade is taking organic chemistry alongside the same students he tutors — he knows which professors emphasize what, which problem sets are brutal, and where the common mistakes hide in topics like stereochemistry and acyl substitution. That proximity to the material gives him a practical, recently-tested understanding of how to break down multi-step synthesis problems into manageable pieces.

Reaction mechanisms are the language of organic chemistry, and David treats them that way — once a student can read electron flow through curved arrows, predicting products for substitution, elimination, and addition reactions becomes systematic rather than overwhelming. His Yale neuroscience training required two semesters of organic chemistry, and he still uses those fundamentals daily in his bioethics graduate work.

Biochemistry majors don't just pass organic chemistry — they keep using it, which means Addison is building on reaction mechanisms and functional group behavior in courses well beyond the introductory sequence at Rice. That ongoing exposure to carbonyl chemistry, stereochemistry, and arrow-pushing in biological contexts gives her a practical fluency that makes tutoring sessions feel less like reviewing old notes and more like working through the material with someone who still thinks in it daily.

Penn's pre-health track put Brittany through rigorous chemistry coursework alongside her psychology degree, and she spent her undergraduate years tutoring General Chemistry I and II at the university's Tutoring Center — building the kind of fluency with reaction fundamentals that carries directly into organic mechanisms. She approaches topics like nucleophilic substitution and carbonyl reactivity by connecting them back to the foundational principles of electron behavior and molecular structure, making each new reaction type feel like an extension of something students already know.

Having completed both semesters of organic chemistry at the University of Michigan — on top of AP Chemistry before that — Ajay knows exactly where students get stuck, whether it's arrow-pushing in reaction mechanisms or keeping substitution and elimination pathways straight. He teaches students to recognize electron behavior patterns so new reactions feel predictable instead of random.

Reaction mechanisms are the language of organic chemistry, and Amin earned an entire master's degree becoming fluent in them. He teaches students to read electron flow the way you'd read a sentence — identifying nucleophiles, leaving groups, and stereoelectronic effects so that predicting products becomes a reasoning exercise, not a memorization marathon. Rated 4.5 by students.

Four years of tutoring organic chemistry at Yale — while simultaneously doing pre-med coursework — gave Marcus a sharp sense of where students get stuck, particularly with carbonyl reactivity and multi-step synthesis planning. His current research at the Hospital for Special Surgery keeps him actively applying these concepts, so he teaches functional group transformations as interconnected tools rather than an isolated reaction catalog.