Chemical Foundations of Biochemistry

Biochemistry describes the molecular nature of life processes. In living cells, many chemical reactions take place simultaneously. 

Cells of all types have so many fundamental features in common that it is reasonable to say that they all had a common origin. 

Until the early part of the 19th century, there was a widely held belief in Vital forces, forces presumably unique to living things. This belief included the idea that the compounds found in living organisms could not be produced in the laboratory. German chemist Friedrich Wohler performed the critical experiment that disproved this belief in 1828. Wohler synthesized urea, a well-known waste product of animal metabolism, from ammonium cyanate, a compound obtained from mineral (i.e., nonliving) sources. 

It has subsequently been shown that any compound that occurs in a living organism can be synthesized in the laboratory, although in many cases the synthesis represents a considerable challenge to even the most skilled organic chemist. 

The reactions of biomolecules can be described by the methods of organic chemistry, which requires the classification of compounds according to their fimctional groups. The reactions of molecules are based on the reactions of their respective functional groups. 

---