Organic chemistry Wohler, Friedrich

In addition to the organic chemistry of carbon compounds, the element is also important in inorganic chemistry. In recent years, an extensive chemistry of the fullerenes, C60 and its derivatives, has become one of the most active new areas of inorganic and organic chemistry. There is no clear separation of the two fields even though they were believed to be separate for many years. In 1828, Friedrich Wohler converted ammonium cyanate into urea,... 

Until the mid-eighteenth century, scientists believed organic compounds came only from live plants and animals. They reasoned that organisms possessed a vital force that enabled them to produce organic compounds. The first serious blow to this theory of vitalism, which marked the beginning of modern organic chemistry, occurred when Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882) synthesized urea from the two inorganic substances lead cyanate and ammonium hydroxide ... 

Organic chemistry nowadays almost drives me mad. To me it appears like a primeval, tropical forest full of the most remarkable things, a dreadful endless jungle into which one does not dare enter for there seems to be no way out Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882)... 

Organic chemistry can be traced back to the nineteenth century when German chemist Friedrich Wohler discovered that urea, a component of urine, was organic ... 

Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882) was born in Eschers-heim, Germany, and studied at Heidelberg under Leopold Gmelin. From 1836 to 1882, he was professor of chemistry at Gottingen. Wohler developed the first industrial method for preparing aluminum metal, and he discovered several new elements. In addition, he wrote textbooks in both inorganic and organic chemistry. 

To place this in historical perspective, John Quincy Adams was the U.S. President at the time. The following year, Friedrich Wohler reported that the organic compound urea could be made from the inorganic reagents HOCN and NH3—the birth of organic chemistry. 

This idea began to change in 1828 when a twenty-seven-year-old German physician, whose first love was chemistry, synthesized the organic molecule urea from inorganic starting materials. This man was Friedrich Wohler, the "father of organic chemistry."... 

Urea (yoo-REE-uh) is a white crystalline solid or powder with almost no odor and a salty taste. It is a product of the decomposition of proteins in the bodies of terrestrial animals. Urea is produced in the liver and transferred to the kidneys, from which it is excreted in urine. The compound was first identified as a component of urine by French chemist Hilaire Marin Rouelle (1718-1799) in 1773. It was first synthesized accidentally in 1828 by German chemist Friedrich Wohler (1800-1882). The synthesis of urea was one of the most important historical events in the history of chemistry. It was the first time that a scientist had synthesized an organic compound. Prior to Wohler s discovery, scientists believed that organic compounds could be made only by the intervention of some supernatural force. Wohler s discovery showed that organic compounds were subject to the same set of natural laws as were inorganic compounds (compounds for non-living substances). For this reason, Wohler is often called the Father of Organic Chemistry. 

The primeval forest was Friedrich Wohler s description of organic chemistry. 

In 1835 Friedrich Wohler called organic chemistry a primeval forest of the tropics (p. 422) and the metaphor, of an unimaginably complex living system, was seemingly an apt one. Organic compounds seemed to be isolable only from living creatures—plants and animals. Often, they had to be extracted from enormously complex matrices and were challenging to isolate pure. Even urine, a clear liquid. 

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