Beginning early on with Acid-Base chemistry, we ask the basic question “where does charge want to be?” in intermediates and products. Negative charge wants to be on more highly electronegative elements such as oxygen and the halogens and bigger elements such as bromine or iodine. Carbon does not handle a negative charge well until stabilizing groups are added to help stabilize the extra electrons. How reactive or stable a negative charge will be in a molecule depends on additional factors such as delocalization (studied in Organic 1), however the basics are covered in General Chemistry. The Periodic Table again helps us predict anion stability, which leads into the Acid-Base chemistry studied early in the first semester of Organic. A very simple example for transitioning from General Chemistry is that of NaOH reacting with HCl to give water and NaCl. The reaction is driven by the need to transfer the negative charge from oxygen to the more stable chloride anion. Knowing electronegativity values will help, as will understanding anion size.