Question 22N.1.hl.TZ0.35
| Date | November 2022 | Marks available | [Maximum mark: 1] | Reference code | 22N.1.hl.TZ0.35 |
| Level | hl | Paper | 1 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | State | Question number | 35 | Adapted from | N/A |
Which statement best describes retrosynthesis?
A. The reaction conditions needed to convert the product of a reaction back to the starting materials.
B. Synthesizing a target molecule by working back from the target molecule to the starting materials.
C. A synthetic scheme using traditional methods rather than modern methods and materials.
D. A synthetic pathway which favours the equilibrium towards the products.
[1]
B
About 74% of the candidates answered correctly, being able to identify the best description of "retrosynthesis", but the success rate was only being weakly related to overall performance The most commonly chosen distractor (A) indicates that some think the term just refers to the conditions required to reverse a single stage reaction.