What is organic chemistry

What is organic chemistry Some representative organic molecules 

Ginkgolide B—A complex organic compound from the ginkgo tree 

Organic chemistry. You might wonder how a discipline that conjnres up images of eccentric old scientists working in basement laboratories is relevant to you, a student in the twenty-first century. 

Consider for a moment the activities that occupied your past 24 hours. You likely showered with soap, drank a caffeinated beverage, ate at least one form of starch, took some medication, read a newspaper, listened to a CD, and traveled in a vehicle that had rubber tires and was powered by fossil fuels. If you did any one of these, your life was touched by organic chemistry. 

It isAl]D1Sb IOn diP jitE fieBtt3Q6 BlCI UCh encompasses many classical subdisciplines including inorganic, physical, and analytical chemistry, and newer fields such as bioinorganic chemistry, physical biochemistry, polymer chemistry, and materials science. 

13 Equilibria, rates, and mechanisms summary of mechanistic principles 305 

14 Nucleophilic substitution at C=0 with loss of carbonyl oxygen 339 

27 Reactions of enolates with aldehydes and ketones the aldol reaction ess 

47 Organo-main-group chemistry II boron, silicon, and tin 1277 

You will be able to read towards the end of the book (Chapters 49-51) about the extraordinary chemistry that allows life to exist but this is known only from a modern cooperation between chemists and biologists. 

However, organic molecules can be produced by processes not involving life. Friedrich Wohler destroyed the theory of vital force by the synthesis of urea in 1828 an event generally seen as the turning point. 

First Lavoisier found systematically that vegetable matter is composed from C, H and O and that in animal matter additionally N and P are present. Liebig ( Organic chemistry in its application to agriculture and physiology , 1840) defined the task of organic chemistry as follows  

The object of organic chemistry is to discover the chemical conditions which are essential to the life and perfect development of animals and vegetables, and, generally, to investigate all those processes of organic nature which are due to the operation of chemical laws. (The first phrase in Part I Of the chemical processes in the nutrition of vegetables ). 

According to this definition it appears, however, that (for example) carbon dioxide is an organic compound. It has been convenient to distinguish between inorganic and organic carbon compounds to explain the cycles between the biosphere and the atmosphere. On the other hand, when we state that there is a prime chemistry 

It seems that a useful condition to specify an organic compound is the annex to the given definition that there must be at least one C—H bonding in the molecule. 

It may seem odd that a whole discipline is devoted to the study of a single element in the periodic table, when more than 100 elements exist. It turns out, though, that there are far more organic compounds than any other type. Organic chemicals affect virtually every facet of our lives, and for this reason, it is important and useful to know something about them. 

Clothes, foods, medicines, gasoline, refrigerants, and soaps are composed almost solely of organie molecules. Some, like cotton, wool, or silk are naturally occurring that is, they can be isolated directly from natural sources. Others, such as nylon and polyester, are synthetic, meaning they are produced by chemists in the laboratory. By studying the principles and coneepts of organic chemistry, you can learn more about compounds such as these and how they affect the world around you. 

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The first question we might ask is What is organic chemistry, and how did it become a separate branch of chemistry A brief survey of the history of organic chemistry will help us understand how the division of chemicals into organic and inorganic originated and why this division persists today. 

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