Chemistry Paper-2 Continued...

Now Let us proceed topic wise in Chemistry paper-2 :

1. Aromaticity: One must start with the chapter of Aromaticity in Jerry march…

· refer Chapter 8 of Aromaticity in Advanced Organic Chemistry(5^th edition) by Carey and Sundberg...Do solve the end of the chapter problems…

· read chapter15(Benzene and Aromaticity) from Organic Chemistry(7^th edition)by McMurry…also solve the end of the chapter problems of this book which are quite good…

· read chapter-15 of Aromaticity from Organic Chemistry by P.Y.Bruice and solve the end of the chapter problems…In Indian Forest Service 2009 exam, 2-questions of aromaticity were directly picked up from this book..

· read chapter-16 of Organic Chemistry(2^nd edition) by Hornback and solve the end of the chapter problems

· Read chapter-11 (Arenes and Aromaticity) of Organic Chemistry by Francis A. Carey and solve the end of the chapter problems…

· Solve the end of the chapter problems of Organic Chemistry by Hoffma

Best strategy will be to collect all the good problems from these books in one place which will help in revision during exam time.

2. (a) (i) Reaction Mechanisms: read it from Brilliant…For Isotopic method try and solve all the problems that have come in Civil Services Exam…esp 2005Q1(c) and 2006 Q2(b)…

For the isotopic effect do read chapter-5 of Organic Chemistry by Hoffman and solve question5.1 of this book

(ii) Reactive Intermediates:

· For carbenes refer a particular chapter in Organic Chemistry by Clayden…also refer to the Carbenes given in Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal…

· Also refer chapter-5 of Advanced Organic Chemistry by Jerry March (6^th Edition) …this chapter covers almost all the intermediates…

(iii) Substitution Reactions:

· Read the relevant chapter of Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Chapter-4 of Advanced Organic Chemistry_Carey & Sundberg(Part-A)(5^th edition) is very good and it cover some good examples…

· Do refer to the Chapter-10 of Advanced Organic Chemistry by Jerry March(6^th Edition)

· For the neighbouring group participation topic, refer to the Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal

· For Heterocyclic compounds, refer to theChapter-20(Aromatic Heterocyclic Compounds) of Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems in Organic Chemistry…a lot of good problems are given in this chapter…also refer the book Heterocyclic Chemistry by R.K.Bansal…read chapter-21 of Organic Chemistry by P.Y.Bruice (it is a very good chapter)… now a these days many questions are asked from Heterocyclic so prepare it thoroughly….

· For Neighboring group refer to the corresponding chapter in Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal.

· Do refer to the in chapter and end of the chapter problems given in Organic Chemistry by S.H.Pine

· Refer to the Chapter-5 Unimolecular Substitutions and Related Reactions from the book Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry by Lowry and Richardson. Two 20 mark questions in Chemistry paper-2 (CSM 2006) were asked from this chapter’s end problems.

· For Substitution in Aromatic Compounds read the chapter from Clayden , refer from Chapter-9 of Carey & Sundberg(Part-A)(5^th edition),read chapter-16 of Organic Chemistry(7^th edition) by McMurry and also read Chapter-16 (Reactions of Substituted Benzenes) from Organic Chemistry by P.Y.Bruice

(iv) Elimination Reactions

· Read the relevant chapter of Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Chapter-5 of Advanced Organic Chemistry by Carey & Sundberg(Part-A)(5^th edition) is very good and it cover some good examples…

· Do refer to the Chapter-10 of Advanced Organic Chemistry by Jerry March(6^th Edition)

· Also read the chapter in Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal

· Syn Elimination can be read from the Advanced Organic Chemistry by Jerry March(6^th Edition) and also from Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal

· Do refer to the in chapter and end of the chapter problems given in Organic Chemistry by S.H.Pine

(v) Addition Reactions:

· Read the relevant chapter of Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Read chapter19 from Organic Chemistry(7^th edition)by McMurry…also solve the end of the chapter problems..

(vi) Reactions and Rearrangements:

· Read chapter of Rearrangement from Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Read the rearrangements from Sanyal and Sanyal

· Read the rearrangements given in Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal

· Read the relevant rearrangements from Jerry march…

· Read the chapter 6 of Intramolecular Arrangement from Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry by Lowry and Richardson

2. (b) Name reactions:

· Read chapter of Rearrangement from Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Read the rearrangements from Sanyal and Sanyal

· Read the rearrangements given in Organic Reaction Mechanisms by R.K.Bansal

· Read the relevant rearrangements from Jerry march…

· Read the same from Norman and Coxon…

3. Pericyclic Reactions:

· The best book for this topic in Pericyclic Chemistry by Jaya Singh and Jagdamba Singh

· Solve all the in chapter, end of the chapter of Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyed (a good no of questions have been asked in CSM from this book)

· Read chapter of Pericyclic Reactions -1, 2 from Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Read chapter of Pericyclic Chemistry from Principles of Organic Synthesis: Norman and Coxon

· Read the chapter of Pericyclic Reactions(Chapter-22) from Organic Chemistry(2^nd edition) by Hornback

· Read the chapter of Pericyclic Reactions(Chapter-30) from Organic Chemistry(7^nd edition) by McMurry

· Read the chapter of Pericyclic Reactions from Organic Chemistry by S.H.Pine

· Read the chapter 12 of (APPLICATIONS OF THE PERICYCLIC SELECTION RULES) from Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry by Lowry and Richardson…please solve the end of the chapter problems…

4 (i) Preparation and Properties of Polymers:

Prepare polymer notes by consulting the following books…it is also important to focus on the end

of the chapter problems..The references for the Polymers were the following:

· Chapter-52 of Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Chapter-28 of Organic Chemistry by P.Y.Bruice

· Chapter-31 of Organic Chemistry(7^nd edition) by McMurry

· Chapter-24 of Organic Chemistry(2^nd edition) by Hornback

· Relevant chapter of Polymer from Organic Chemistry by S.H.Pine

· Relevant chapter of Polymer from Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyed

· Principles of Polymerization-Odian is the best book for most of the topics of Polymers but it is very elaborative so please select the relevant portion for ur purpose..

4 (ii) Biopolymers :

· Read all the books that were mentioned above for the polymers and also read from I.L.Finar Volume-2(Bio polymers has been dealt nicely in this book)

5. Synthetic Uses of Reagents: There is no particular book for this topic…but one will have to collect the different examples from different books…

· Read it from Sanyal and Sanyal

· Some of the reagents are given in the book Modern Methods of Organic Synthesis(4^th edition) by William Carruthers …

6. Photochemistry:

· Read it from Photochemistry And Pericyclic Reactions by Jaya Singh and Jagdamba Singh…

· Read the chapter of photochemistry from Principles of Organic Synthesis by Norman and Coxon

7. Spectroscopy: Every year some 80- 120 marks questions are asked from this topic so it is an important topic..The basics of Spectroscopy should be covered from the following books:

· Introduction to Spectroscopy by Donald Pavia

· Relevant chapters of Spectroscopy given in Organic Chemistry by Clayden..

· Spectroscopy by P.S.Kalsi

· Spectroscopy by Y.R.Sharma

· Structure Determination of Organic Compounds, Chapter 11 of Organic Chemistry by Hoffman…

· Spectroscopy by William Kemp ( it is a very good book for the fundamentals)

· Relevant chapter of Spectroscopy from Organic Chemistry by P.Y.Bruice

· Relevant chapter of Spectroscopy from Organic Chemistry(7^nd edition) by McMurry

· Relevant chapter of Spectroscopy from Organic Chemistry(2^nd edition) by Hornback

· Relevant chapter of Spectroscopy from Organic Chemistry by S.H.Pine

· Relevant chapter of Spectroscopy from Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyed

· Refer to the Chapter-12(Spectroscopy and Srtucture) of Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems in Organic Chemistry

My Strategy for Chemistry Paper-2

For Organic Chemistry, I followed the topic wise approach...i.e. to prepare each and every topic of the syllabus from all the books and note down all the relevant examples in one place...esp for Reagents, Name reactions, Reaction mechanisms, Pericyclic Chemistry,Polymers, Aromaticity etc...

The common books that I consulted for different topics were:

1. Organic Chemistry: Jonathan Clayden, Nick Greeves, Stuart Warren, and Peter Wothers ( Oxford University Press)..Its solution manual is also available in the market and it is very essential to refer the manual once u start solving the end of the chapter problems…Here is the link for downloading this solution manual from Internet : http://rapidshare.com/files/272066088/Organic_Chemistry_Clayden_Solutions_Manual.rar

2. Principles of Organic Synthesis: R.O.C. Norman and J.M. Coxon (Blackie Academic & Professions)

3. Organic chemistry: Robert T Morrison, Robert Neilson Boyd

4. Organic Chemistry: P.Y.Bruice (McGraw Hill, 5th Ed, 1987) Here is the link for the download of this book: http://rapidshare.com/files/58451058/Organic_Chemistry-P_Y_Bruice-4thEd.pdf

5. Fundamentals Of Organic Chemistry : John E. McMurry (7^th edition)Its solution manual is also available on the internet… Study Guide with Solutions Manual for McMurry's Organic Chemistry, 7^th edition http://rapidshare.com/files/382370278/Study_Guide_with_Solutions_Organic_Chemistry__7th_Edition_.rar

6. Organic Chemistry: Joseph H. Hornback (Brooks Cole; 2 edition)Its solution manual is available on the internet: Student Solutions Manual and Study Guide for Hornback's Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition…Here is the link for the solution manual: http://www.scribd.com/doc/22959241/Organic-Chemistry-M-hornBACK-Solutions-Guide

7. Organic Reaction Mechanisms: Raj K.Bansal (Third Edition)

8. Organic Chemistry by S.H.Pine(Mcgraw Hill Publication)

9. Organic Chemistry : I.L.Finar, ELBS (Vol. 2 edition)

10. A Guide Book to Mechanism in Organic Chemistry : Peter Sykes ( Longman) {read this book cover to cover as this is the most basic book for most parts of paper-2}

My Score Card

Roll No. : 516

Password: DDCDCA

Name : ABHIJEET AGRAWAL

Civil Services (Main) Examination 2009
Subject		Maximum Marks	Marks Obtained
Essay(Paper III)		200	080
General Studies (Paper-IV)		300	116
General Studies(Paper-V)		300	161
Optional I, CHEMISTRY	Paper-VI	300	200
	Paper-VII	300	191
Optional II, PHYSICS.	Paper-VIII	300	174
	Paper-IX	300	170
Written Total		2000	1092
Interview Marks		300	159
Final Total		2300	1251

Well again i got less marks in the interview...but finally made it to the list...thanks to the optional subjects...

My Strategy for the G.S.

History:In mains exam, mainly the questions from the modern India is asked….15 markers are asked from Modern India and 2 markers are asked from Ancient Indian History and Medieval History…Last year questions from Culture and Dances were also asked (This was a bouncer for me) but the general books that i considered were Modern India ( Spectrum Publication)

Indian Freedom Struggule (Bipan Chandra): read it from cover to cover.

Modern History: NCERT(Class XIIth) older version,,written by Bipan Chandra.

Modern India: IGNOU notes

For 2 markers of ancient and Medieval History: refer class notes of Vaji Ram & Ravi...I also got a ready made 2 markers notes from one of my senior which was very much helpful

Polity:

Vaji Ram and Ravi class notes are good but it need to be supplemented from the books like Indian Polity by D.D.Basu.....for the new topics of Indian Politics,I referred the following books:

§ Democratic politics (NCERT Class Xth, newer syllabus)

§ Politics in India since Independence( NCERT Class XII textbook in political science, newer syllabus)

§ Democracy in India: Issues and Challenges (NCERT Class XIIth textbook in Political science, older syllabus)

§ Indian Constitution At Work (NCERT Class XI textbook in political science, newer syllabus)

§ Sri Ram IAS’ class notes are also good…They give some newer angles to the topics in Polity

I also referred to the questions of Indian polity and Politics asked in Political Science and International Relations mains papers… I made a list of questions that can be asked from the Politics section and prepared them from the above mentioned books...

Geography:I referred to the geography NCERT of Class XIth and XIIth…

Social Issues:This segment has no particular reference books that caters to most of the topics but some of the references that i read were:

Social Change and Developments in India( NCERT Class XIIth)

Class notes of Sriram IAS…

Class notes of Vaji Ram and Ravi of last 2 years…

I also referred to the old questions of social issues asked in Sociology mains paper…

Current National Issues:Regular reading of Newspapers like The Hindu and The Times of India ….also referred the class notes of Vaji Ram and Ravi, and also Sri Ram IAS….

International affairs:Class notes of Vaji Ram and Ravi and also of Sri ram’s class notes are helpful…refer to the class notes as well as Yellow Book of International Affairs of Vaji Ram and Ravi (not only the current year but also of last two years) because now a days the lot of questions are asked from previous year’s International affairs…Notes of VAJI Ram and Ravi are good only for the conventional areas of International Relations that are in news....but now a these days a lot of questions are asked which are not based on the current International affairs....In this regard the Class notes of Sriram IAS was quite helpful....In fact the Syllabus of International affairs never says " Current International Affairs" but it only states that "India and the World"so we need to focus on the conventional aspects of International relations...

For example, the following question can be asked:

• Discuss India's role in Global Disarmament.
• Assess the importance of globalisation in India’s foreign policy etc

So for these kind of conventional topics in International relations i referred the following books:

§ Contemporary World Politics( Class XIIth NCERT)

§ International relations chapters in the book Democracy in India: Issues and Challenges (NCERT Class XIIth textbook in Political Science, older syllabus) here is the link for the download of this book:

http://rapidshare.com/files/401344586/ncert_XII_political_science_democracy_india.pdf.html

§ IGNOU notes of Political Science, here is the link :

http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/handle/123456789/1460/

this material will cover the the basics of India’s bilateral and multilateral relations..

I also referred to the old questions of international affairs asked in the Political Science and International Affairs mains paper…

Economics:

The Economy portion in last 2-3 year has undergone significant change so it need elaborate preparation keeping in mind the current trend…the strategy that I adopted was to make a list of topics falling under broad sectors like Agriculture, Industry, Banking, Infrastructure, WTO, Monetary and Credit Policies, Finance, Globalization, International Agencies like WB, IMF,WIPO; Trade etc and prepare them from different sources…..

The references were:

• Understanding the problems of Indian Economy by Uma Kapila, Academic Foundation publication.
• Indian Economic Development(NCERT class XIth)
• Economic Survey
• India Year Book: Chapters related to Economics
• Class notes of Vaji Ram & Ravi for Economy ( get notes of last 2-3 years)
• Class notes of Sriram IAS for Economy
• Indian Economy: Rudra Dutt and Sundaram
• IGNOU notes of Indian Economy and International Trade and Finance…here is the link of the same http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/handle/123456789/1700
• http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/handle/123456789/1702

I also referred to the last 25 year questions asked in G.S. economy section and also the questions that were asked in Economy optional paper( especially Paper-2 )

Science and Technology: I followed the strategy of covering as many topics as possible in Science and Technology rather than going into depth of the topics that i know..for this reason i divided the whole Science and ech into 7-8 segments and prepared a list of topics that i knew...then i kept on adding the topics in respective segment...since i was maintaining a file so it was easy for me to insert various topics that i could prepare....the segments were: Biotechnology,Agriculture, Environment, Energy,Space, Nuclear Science, Electronics, IT & Computers and Misc...By this way i covered all the references and made a decently bulky notes...

§ VAJI Ram Classs Notes of last 2-3 years.

§ Shri ram Class Notes of Science and Technology

§ Science and Tech Book by Ashok Singh

§ Science and Tech Book by Spectrum Publication

§ All the topics that have come in Science and Technology Section "The Hindu" in last 2 years. here is the link : http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/seta/arcseta.htm

§ All the nobel prize winners in last 2 years (in Chemistry, Physics,Medical Sciences)

§ Biology NCERT Class XIIth(chapter 8-12)

§ All the question papers of Science and Tech of "Expert Brains" and "Shri ram" and "ALS Interactions" and "Civil Services Times"

§ Science and Tech questions asked in the Indian Forest Service Question papers and General Studies paper in the Indian Economic Service Examination.

§ Science and tech issues that had appeared in Frontline in last 1 year.

§ Put some of the key words in Wikipedia like " nanotechnology","Biotechnology"," Space Technology", "IT technology" etc...prepare the newer topics… here is the link for a list of emerging technologies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emerging_technologies

§ Some of the government of India's websites relating to the Science and Technology like: http://dbtindia.nic.in/index.asp

http://www.dst.gov.in/

I prepared some of the key topics mentioned in these websites.

§ Science and tech Chapter in India Year Book