Organic compounds vital force

Vitaiism Vitalism is the belief that living things contain a mystical force that allows them to produce organic compounds. Vitalism was overthrown when Friedrich Wohler synthesized urea, an organic compoxmd, in his laboratory. Vitalism The demise of vitalism opened all of life to scientific inquiry and led to our current xmderstanding of organic chemistry. 

Urea [57-13-6] was discovered ia urine by Rouelle ia 1773 and first synthesized from ammonia (qv) and cyanic acid by Woehler ia 1828. This was the first synthesis of an organic compound from an inorganic compound, and it dealt a deathblow to the vital-force theory. In 1870, urea was produced by heating ammonium carbamate ia a sealed tube. 

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 ... 

The history of organic synthesis is generally traced back to Wohler s synthesis of the natural product urea from ammonium isocyanate in 1828. This laid to rest the vis vitalis (vital force) theory, which maintained that a substance produced by a living organism could not be produced synthetically. The discovery had monumental significance, because it showed that, in principle, aU organic compounds are amenable to synthesis in the laboratory. 

Two hundred years ago, many people believed that natural or organic compounds (those containing carbon and hydrogen) isolated from plants and animals were fundamentally different from those that were derived from minerals (called inorganic compounds). They thought organic compounds contained a vital force that was only found in living systems. 

Vital-force theory The theory that a vital force determined the difference between organic and inorganic compounds. Organic materials isolated from plants and animals were thought to contain a vital force, while inorganic materials did not. 

The belief that syntheses of organic compounds require the presence of a vital force. (p. 1)... 

Urea had always come from living organisms and was presumed to contain the vital force, yet ammonium cyanate is inorganic and thus lacks the vital force. Some chemists claimed that a trace of vital force from Wohler s hands must have contaminated the reaction, but most recognized the possibility of synthesizing organic compounds from inorganics. Many other syntheses were carried out, and the vital force theory was eventually discarded. 

He had synthesized the first organic compound outside the living body. The mind of young Woehler almost reeled at the thought of the virgin fields rich in mighty harvests which now awaited the creatures of the crucible. He kept his head. He carefully analyzed his product to verify its identity. He must assure himself that this historic crystal was the same as that formed under the influence of the so-called vital force. 

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