Usualin

Usualin is a hypothetical organic compound commonly used in chemistry education to illustrate fundamental reaction mechanisms and spectroscopic analysis. It is not a real substance cataloged in standard chemical databases, but rather a generic example that instructors adapt for teaching.

In most classroom depictions, usualin has a small heterocyclic framework featuring a nitrogen atom and a carbonyl-containing substituent. The precise arrangement varies across textbooks, allowing educators to tailor the molecule to specific topics. Typical illustrations assign a molecular weight in the range of about 170 to 260 g/mol and a moderate level of polarity, enough to show solubility differences between organic solvents and water.

Usualin is employed to demonstrate reaction types such as nucleophilic substitution on activated rings, electrophilic aromatic substitution, nucleophilic addition to carbonyls, and keto-enol tautomerism. It also serves as a model for interpreting simple NMR and infrared spectra.

As a teaching aid, usualin has no single synthesis or supplier; educators usually describe a plausible synthesis in the problem text to avoid implying an actual compound exists. The concept of usualin appears in textbooks, problem sets, and online educational resources.