An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together in a defined spatial arrangement by chemical bonds whose molecules A molecule is defined as an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from polyatomic ions in this strict sense. In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the term molecule is used less strictly and also is applied to charged organic molecules contain carbon Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, with 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is radioactive, decaying with a half-life of. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, CO2−3. The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group O=C2, simple oxides An oxide is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides. Oxides result when elements are oxidized by oxygen in air. Combustion of hydrocarbons affords the two principal oxides of carbon, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Even materials that are of carbon and cyanides A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group , which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are generally salts of the anion CN−. Of the many kinds of cyanide compounds, some are gases; others are solids or liquids. Those that can release the cyanide ion CN− are highly toxic, as well as the allotropes of carbon Diamond is one of the best known allotropes of carbon, whose hardness and high dispersion of light make it useful for industrial applications and jewellery. Diamond is the hardest known natural mineral, which makes it an excellent abrasive and makes it hold polish and luster extremely well. No known naturally occurring substance can cut a diamond, are considered inorganic Traditionally, inorganic compounds are considered to be of a mineral, not biological, origin. Complementarily, most organic compounds are traditionally viewed as being of biological origin. Over the past century, the precise classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists, primarily because the majority of. The distinction between "organic" and "inorganic" carbon compounds while "useful in organizing the vast subject of chemistry... is somewhat arbitrary".^[1]

Organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry that involves the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives. These compounds may contain any number of other elements, including hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, the halogens as well as is the science concerned with all aspects of organic compounds. Organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules can often contain a higher level of complexity compared to purely inorganic compounds, so the synthesis of organic compounds has developed into one of the most important branches of is the methodology of their preparation.

History

Vitalism

The name "organic" is historical, dating back to the 1st century The 1st century was the century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.^{[citation needed]} For many centuries, Western alchemists Alchemy, derived from the Arabic word al-kimia , is both a philosophy and an ancient practice focused on the attempt to change base metals into gold, investigating the preparation of the "elixir of longevity", and achieving ultimate wisdom, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described believed in vitalism Where vitalism explicitly invokes a vital principle, that element is often referred to as the "vital spark," "energy" or "élan vital", which some equate with the "soul", the theory that certain compounds could only be synthesized from their classical elements Empedocles was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for being the origin of the cosmogenic theory of the four Classical elements. He also proposed powers called Love and Strife which would act as forces to bring about the mixture and separation of the elements — Earth, Water, Air and Fire — by action of a "life-force" (vis vitalis) possessed only by organisms. The theory implied that these "organic" compounds were fundamentally different from the "inorganic" compounds that could be obtained from the elements by chemical manipulation.

Vitalism survived for a while even after the rise of modern atomic theory and the replacement of the Aristotelian elements by those we know today. It first came under question in 1824, when Friedrich Wöhler Friedrich Wöhler was a German chemist, best-known for his synthesis of urea, but also the first to isolate several chemical elements synthesized oxalic acid Oxalic acid is the chemical compound with the formula that can be written in a number of equivalent ways, C2O4H2, C2O22, and as HOOCCOOH. This colourless solid is a dicarboxylic acid. In terms of acid strength, it is about 3,000 times stronger than acetic acid. Its conjugate base, known as oxalate (C2O42-), is a reducing agent as well as a, a compound known to occur only in living organisms, from cyanogen Cyanogen is the chemical compound with the formula (C .^{[citation needed]} A more decisive experiment was Wöhler's 1828 synthesis The Wöhler synthesis is the conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea. This chemical reaction was discovered in 1828 by Friedrich Wöhler in an attempt to synthesize ammonium cyanate. It is considered the starting point of modern organic chemistry. Although the Wöhler reaction concerns the conversion of ammonium cyanate, this salt only appears as of urea Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula (N from the inorganic salts In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that can result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions (negative ions) so that the product is electrically neutral (without a net charge). These component ions can be inorganic such as chloride (Cl−), as well as organic such as potassium cyanate Potassium cyanate is an inorganic compound with the formula KOCN. It is the conjugate base of cyanic acid, HOCN. This reagent is used to prepare herbicide. Worldwide production of the potassium and sodium salts was 20 Mkg in 2006 and ammonium sulfate It is used largely as an artificial fertilizer for alkaline soils. In the soil the sulfate ion is released and forms bisulfate, lowering the pH balance of the soil , while contributing essential nitrogen for plant growth. Urea had long been considered to be an "organic" compound as it was known to occur only in the urine of living organisms. Wöhler's experiments were followed by many others, where increasingly complex "organic" substances were produced from "inorganic" ones without the involvement of any living organism.^{[citation needed]}

Modern classification

Even after vitalism was disproved, the distinction between "organic" and "inorganic" compounds has been retained to this day but is now merely a tool for organizing the huge and growing body of chemical knowledge^[1] — even though many of the "organic compounds" known today have no connection whatsoever, material or structural, to any substance found in living organisms.

There is no "official" definition of an organic compound. Some text books define an organic compound as one containing one or more C-H bonds; others include C-C bonds in the definition. Others state that if a molecule contains carbon it is organic.^[2]

Even the broader definition of "carbon-containing molecules" requires the exclusion of carbon-containing alloys (including steel Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten. Carbon and other elements act as a hardening agent, preventing), a relatively small number of carbon-containing compounds such as metal carbonates In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, CO2−3. The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group O=C2 and carbonyls Metal carbonyls are coordination complexes of transition metals with carbon monoxide. These complexes may be homoleptic, that is containing only CO ligands, such as nickel carbonyl (Ni4), but more commonly metal carbonyls contain a mix of ligands, such as Re(CO)3(2,2'-bipyridine)Cl. Carbon monoxide is an important building block for the synthesis, simple oxides An oxide is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom as well as at least one other element. Most of the Earth's crust consists of oxides. Oxides result when elements are oxidized by oxygen in air. Combustion of hydrocarbons affords the two principal oxides of carbon, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Even materials that are of carbon and cyanides A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group , which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Inorganic cyanides are generally salts of the anion CN−. Of the many kinds of cyanide compounds, some are gases; others are solids or liquids. Those that can release the cyanide ion CN− are highly toxic, as well as the allotropes of carbon Diamond is one of the best known allotropes of carbon, whose hardness and high dispersion of light make it useful for industrial applications and jewellery. Diamond is the hardest known natural mineral, which makes it an excellent abrasive and makes it hold polish and luster extremely well. No known naturally occurring substance can cut a diamond and simple carbon halides and sulfides, which are usually considered to be inorganic Traditionally, inorganic compounds are considered to be of a mineral, not biological, origin. Complementarily, most organic compounds are traditionally viewed as being of biological origin. Over the past century, the precise classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists, primarily because the majority of.

The "C-H" definition excludes compounds which are historically and practically considered to be organic. Neither urea nor oxalic acid are organic by this definition, yet they were two key compounds in the Vitalism debate. The IUPAC Blue Book on organic nomenclature specifically mentions urea^[3] and oxalic acid.^[4] Other compounds lacking C-H bonds that are also traditionally considered to be organic include benzenehexol, mesoxalic acid, and carbon tetrachloride Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names is the organic compound with the formula CCl4. It was formerly widely used in fire extinguishers, as a precursor to refrigerants, and as a cleaning agent. It is a colourless liquid with a "sweet" smell that can be detected at low levels. Mellitic acid, which contains no C-H bonds, is considered to be a possible organic substance in Martian Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact soil. All do, however, contain C-C bonds.^[5]

The "C-H bond only" rule also leads to somewhat arbitrary divisions in sets of carbon-fluorine compounds, as for example Teflon In chemistry, polytetrafluoroethylene is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that finds numerous applications. PTFE is most well known by the DuPont brand name Teflon is considered by this rule "inorganic" but Tefzel Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, ETFE, a kind of plastic, was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. Technically ETFE is a polymer, and its systematic name is poly. ETFE has a very high melting temperature, excellent chemical, electrical and high energy radiation resistance properties. When burned ETFE organic; similarly many Halons The haloalkanes are a group of chemical compounds, derived from alkanes containing one or more halogens. They are a subset of the general class of halocarbons although the distinction is not often made. Haloalkanes are widely used commercially and consequently are known under many chemical and commercial names. They are used as flame retardants, are considered inorganic while the rest are organic. For these and other reasons, most sources consider C-H compounds to be only a subset of "organic" compounds.

To summarize: Most carbon-containing compounds are organic, and most compounds with a C-H bond are organic. Not all organic compounds necessarily contain C-H bonds.

Classification

See Organic chemistry#Classification of organic compounds Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry that involves the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives. These compounds may contain any number of other elements, including hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, the halogens as well as

Organic compounds may be classified in a variety of ways. One major distinction is between natural and synthetic compounds. Organic compounds can also be classified or subdivided by the presence of heteroatoms In the nomenclature of organic chemistry, a heteroatom is any atom that is not carbon or hydrogen. It is typically, but not exclusively, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus, boron, chlorine, bromine, or iodine, e.g. organometallic compounds Organometallic chemistry is the study of chemical compounds containing bonds between carbon and a metal. Since many compounds without such bonds are chemically similar, an alternative may be compounds containing metal-element bonds of a largely covalent character. Organometallic chemistry combines aspects of inorganic chemistry and organic which feature bonds between carbon and a metal A metal is a chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat and forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals. In chemistry, a metal is an element, compound, or alloy characterized by high electrical conductivity. In a metal, atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions (cations). Those ions are surrounded by, and organophosphorus compounds Organophosphorus compounds are degradable chemical compounds containing carbon-phosphorus bonds , primarily used in pest control as an alternative to chlorinated hydrocarbons which persist in the environment. Organophosphorus chemistry is the corresponding science of the properties and reactivity of organophosphorus compounds. Phosphorus shares which feature bonds between carbon and a phosphorus Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate rocks. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms – white phosphorus and red phosphorus. Although the term "phosphorescence", meaning glow after.

Another distinction, based upon the size of organic compounds, distinguishes between small molecules In the fields of pharmacology and biochemistry, a small molecule is a low molecular weight organic compound which is by definition not a polymer. The term small molecule, especially within the field of pharmacology, is usually restricted to a molecule that also binds with high affinity to a biopolymer such as protein, nucleic acid, or and polymers A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a wide variety of properties.

Natural compounds

Natural compounds refer to those that are produced by plants or animals. Many of these are still extracted from natural sources because they would be far too expensive to be produced artificially. Examples include most sugars Sugar is an informal term for a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose characterized by a sweet flavor. In food, sugar almost exclusively refers to sucrose, which primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet. Other sugars are used in industrial food preparation, but are usually known by more specific, some alkaloids Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds which mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids. Beside carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, molecules of alkaloids may and terpenoids The terpenoids , sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally-occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in functional groups but also in their basic carbon, certain nutrients such as vitamin B₁₂ Vitamin B12, vitamin B12 or vitamin B-12, also called cobalamin, is a water soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins. It is normally involved in the metabolism of every cell of the body, especially affecting DNA synthesis and, and in general, those natural products with large or stereoisometrically complicated molecules present in reasonable concentrations in living organisms.

Further compounds of prime importance in biochemistry Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes in living organisms. It deals with the structures and functions of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules. Over the last 40 years biochemistry has become so successful at explaining living processes that now almost all areas of the life are antigens An antigen is a molecule recognized by the immune system. Originally the term came from antibody generator and was a molecule that binds specifically to an antibody, but the term now also refers to any molecule or molecular fragment that can be bound by a major histocompatibility complex and presented to a T-cell receptor. "Self", carbohydrates A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the general formula Cmn, that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, with the last two in the 2:1 atom ratio. Carbohydrates can be viewed as hydrates of carbon, hence their name. Structurally however, it is more accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones, enzymes Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective for their, hormones, lipids and fatty acids, neurotransmitters, nucleic acids, proteins, peptides and amino acids, vitamins and fats and oils.

Synthetic compounds

Compounds that are prepared by reaction of other compounds are referred to as "synthetic". They may be either compounds that already are found in plants or animals (semi synthetic compounds), or those that do not occur naturally.

Many polymers (a category which includes all plastics), are organic compounds. A notable exception is silicone, which is both a polymer and a plastic, but which contains silicon instead of carbon, and is therefore not an organic compound by any definition.

Nomenclature

The IUPAC nomenclature of organic compounds slightly differs from the CAS nomenclature.

Databases

• The CAS database is the most comprehensive repository for data on organic compounds. The search tool SciFinder is offered.

• The Beilstein database contains information on 9.8 million substances, covers the scientific literature from 1771 to the present, and is today accessible via CrossFire. Structures and a large diversity of physical and chemical properties is available for each substance, with reference to original literature.

• PubChem contains 18.4 million entries on compounds and especially covers the field of medicinal chemistry.

There is a great number of more specialized databases for diverse branches of organic chemistry.

Structure determination

See Structure determination

Today, the main tools are proton and carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography.

See also

• Organometallic compounds
• List of organic compounds | List of chemical compounds
• Inorganic compounds

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Spencer L. Seager, Michael R. Slabaugh. Chemistry for Today: general, organic, and biochemistry. Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2004, p. 342. ISBN 053439969X
2. ^ Robert T. Morrison, Robert N. Boyd, and Robert K. Boyd, Organic Chemistry, 6th edition (Benjamin Cummings, 1992, ISBN 0-13-643669-2
3. ^ "IUPAC Blue Book, Urea and Its Derivatives Rule C-971". http://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/79/r79_661.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
4. ^ "IUPAC Blue Book, Table 28(a) Carboxylic acids and related groups. Unsubstituted parent structures". http://www.acdlabs.com/iupac/nomenclature/93/r93_705.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
5. ^ S. A. Benner, K. G. Devine, L. N. Matveeva, D. H. Powell (2000). "The missing organic molecules on Mars". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97 (6): 2425–2430. doi:10.1073/pnas.040539497. PMID 10706606.

Categories: Organic compounds | Organic chemistry

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