If your product has a carbonyl group and an alpha hydrogen, it might exist as an enol. But the keto form is usually more stable. So you don’t draw the enol unless the reaction specifically traps it. Draw the keto. Always. The universe prefers keto forms. It’s just a fact.
So here’s your cheat sheet for “Draw the most stable form of the major product”:
- Use Zaitsev’s rule for eliminations.
- Rearrange carbocations if it makes them more substituted.
- Choose trans over cis unless a ring says otherwise.
- Remember Markovnikov unless there’s a peroxide.
- Thermodynamic > kinetic for slow, stable outcomes.
- And always, always check for stereochemistry.
Now go grab that pencil. You’ve got this. And hey, if you draw a squiggly line and call it “most stable,” I’ll pretend I didn’t see it. Just make sure you parked that double bond in the right spot. Your professor won’t be as forgiving as I am.
