Organic compound

Organic compound

An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds, such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon (for example, CO and CO2), and cyanides are considered inorganic.

History

The word organic is historical, dating to the 1st century. For many centuries, Western alchemists believed in vitalism. This is the theory that certain compounds could be synthesized only from their classical elements—earth, water, air, and fire—by the action of a "life-force" (vis vitalis) that only organisms possessed. Vitalism taught that these "organic" compounds were fundamentally different from the "inorganic" compounds that could be obtained from the elements by chemical manipulations.

Classification

Organic compounds are classified in several ways. One major distinction is between natural and synthetic compounds. Organic compounds can also be classified or subdivided by the presence of heteroatoms, e.g., organometallic compounds, which feature bonds between carbon and a metal, and organophosphorus compounds, which feature bonds between carbon and a phosphorus.

Structure

Organic compounds are created by organic chemistry, and they usually have a carbon or a hydrocarbon, which forms a strong bond with other elements including hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The basic organic chemistry reaction types are addition reactions, elimination reactions, substitution reactions, pericyclic reactions, rearrangement reactions, photochemical reactions and redox reactions.

Properties

Organic compounds are rare terrestrially, but of central importance because all known life is based on organic compounds. The most basic petrochemicals are considered the building blocks of organic chemistry.

See also

• Inorganic compound
• Organic chemistry
• Organometallic chemistry
• Organophosphorus compound
• Petrochemical

References

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