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When I learnt A-level chemistry, I was told to use a diagram the teacher called The Boat.

It was a diagram illustrating all the chemical reactions that you can do to simple organic compounds. For instance, the mast of the boat, showed reduction/oxidation of alcohol ⇌ aldehyde ⇌ ketone, if I remember correctly?

I'm looking for a copy of this exact diagram (so please do not recommend others), to reference, if I ever need to discuss these reactions.

My assumption is that this was not an illustration that only existed at my secondary school, and that my description is enough to identify it by. If not, please do let me know in a comment.

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  • $\begingroup$ Only heard of it in reference to a conformational variation vis a vis chair. To be clear: you are referring to a diagram in which all reactions for one compound are displayed in a boat-like structure? This may or may not be something your instructor was taught and is not universally known. $\endgroup$
    – Todd Minehardt
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 19:53
  • $\begingroup$ This is definitely nothing to do with the chair molecule, which is all I could find on a quick pre-question Google. It was for a large number (15-20) different molecules, and for instance showed how to go from ethanol/alcohol to a carboxylic acid in one direction, etc. $\endgroup$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 19:56
  • $\begingroup$ Remember where was it in? What textbook? $\endgroup$
    – Mithoron
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 19:57
  • $\begingroup$ @mithoron it was always printed out on paper/hand drawn as part of the teaching so I don't know. $\endgroup$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 20:01
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    $\begingroup$ I found something called an oxidation ladder which might be along the right lines (nothing with boat components though) - does this help move in the right direction? $\endgroup$
    – Todd Minehardt
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 20:10

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I hadn't heard of a "boat" diagram, but the alcohol-aldehyde-ketone "mast" rang a bell, so I went hunting... Is this the "boat" diagram you're talking about (or similar to it)?

https://o.quizlet.com/MGXYzJ7s01UHNZq3TDAVEw_b.png

(retrieved from https://quizlet.com/513370563/organic-chemistry-reaction-pathways-diagram/)

I can see how the alcohol/aldehyde/ketone interactions would make something akin to the mast and boom of a sailboat, though the rest takes a bit more squinting to work into place. :)

edit: The following link also came up while searching, though the reactions you mention aren't in the mast of the boat in this diagram; if your "boat" was drawn from the side rather than from the top, however, this might have been something akin to what you'd been shown.

https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/the-organic-boat-7513303

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    $\begingroup$ It's much more likely I misremembered the mast being made of those, because that is the spitting image of what I remember from school. $\endgroup$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 22:33

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