Organic chemistry – study of carbon compounds
Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 4:33 am
Organic chemistry can be defined as the study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Carbon is unique in the variety and extent of structures that can result from the three-dimensional connections of its atoms.
The range of chemicals studied in organic chemistry include hydrocarbons, as well as myriad compositions based on carbon, but also containing other elements like oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and the radiostable elements of the halogens.
A major focus of organic chemistry is the isolation, purification, and structural study of these naturally occurring substances. Many natural products are simple molecules. Examples include formic acid (HCO2H) in ants, ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH) in fermenting fruit, and oxalic acid (C2H2O4) in rhubarb leaves.
Chemists generally believed that compounds obtained from living organisms were endowed with a vital force that distinguished them from inorganic compounds. According to the concept of vitalism, organic matter was endowed with a "vital force". During the first half of the nineteenth century, some of the first systematic studies of organic compounds were reported.
In 1828 Friedrich Wohler produced the organic chemical urea (carbamide), a constituent of urine, from inorganic starting materials (the salts potassium cyanate and ammonium sulfate), in what is now called the Wohler synthesis.
A crucial breakthrough for organic chemistry was the concept of chemical structure, developed independently in 1858 by both Friedrich August Kekule and Archibald Scott Couper.
In the early part of the 20th century, polymers and enzymes were shown to be large organic molecules, and petroleum was shown to be of biological origin.
The discovery of petroleum and the development of the petrochemical industry spurred the development of organic chemistry.
The majority of chemical compounds occurring in biological organisms are in fact carbon compounds, so the association between organic chemistry and biochemistry.
The names of organic compounds are either systematic, following logically from a set of rules, or nonsystematic, following various traditions. Systematic nomenclature is stipulated by specifications from IUPAC.
Read more: https://goo.gl/UX8zoB
The range of chemicals studied in organic chemistry include hydrocarbons, as well as myriad compositions based on carbon, but also containing other elements like oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and the radiostable elements of the halogens.
A major focus of organic chemistry is the isolation, purification, and structural study of these naturally occurring substances. Many natural products are simple molecules. Examples include formic acid (HCO2H) in ants, ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH) in fermenting fruit, and oxalic acid (C2H2O4) in rhubarb leaves.
Chemists generally believed that compounds obtained from living organisms were endowed with a vital force that distinguished them from inorganic compounds. According to the concept of vitalism, organic matter was endowed with a "vital force". During the first half of the nineteenth century, some of the first systematic studies of organic compounds were reported.
In 1828 Friedrich Wohler produced the organic chemical urea (carbamide), a constituent of urine, from inorganic starting materials (the salts potassium cyanate and ammonium sulfate), in what is now called the Wohler synthesis.
A crucial breakthrough for organic chemistry was the concept of chemical structure, developed independently in 1858 by both Friedrich August Kekule and Archibald Scott Couper.
In the early part of the 20th century, polymers and enzymes were shown to be large organic molecules, and petroleum was shown to be of biological origin.
The discovery of petroleum and the development of the petrochemical industry spurred the development of organic chemistry.
The majority of chemical compounds occurring in biological organisms are in fact carbon compounds, so the association between organic chemistry and biochemistry.
The names of organic compounds are either systematic, following logically from a set of rules, or nonsystematic, following various traditions. Systematic nomenclature is stipulated by specifications from IUPAC.
Read more: https://goo.gl/UX8zoB