Organic compound

Definitions and History of Organic Compounds

• Organic compounds contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds.
• Inorganic compounds may contain carbon but lack carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds.
• Alkanes and their derivatives are universally considered organic.
• Halides of carbon without carbon-hydrogen and carbon-carbon bonds are sometimes considered inorganic.
• Compounds of carbon with nitrogen and oxygen may be considered inorganic.
• Vitalism was the belief that organic compounds were formed by a vital force possessed only by living organisms.
• Jöns Jacob Berzelius argued for the existence of a regulative force within living bodies.
• Friedrich Wöhler's experiments disproved vitalism by synthesizing organic compounds from inorganic ones.
• Modern scientific nomenclature still distinguishes between organic and inorganic compounds.
• The term 'carbogenic' has been proposed as an alternative to 'organic'.

Vitalism and Discrediting of Vitalism

• Vitalism taught that organic compounds were fundamentally different from inorganic compounds.
• It was based on the belief that substances found in organic nature were formed by a vital force.
• Vitalism was discredited after experiments by Friedrich Wöhler and others.
• Wöhler synthesized organic compounds from inorganic salts, disproving the need for vitalism.
• The formulation of modern ideas about atomic theory and chemical elements further questioned vitalism.

Modern Classification and Ambiguities

• The modern definition of organic compounds includes any carbon-containing compound.
• The term 'organic' does not necessarily imply a connection to living organisms.
• Some carbon-containing compounds are excluded from the definition of organic, such as alloys containing carbon.
• There is no consensus on which carbon-containing compounds should be excluded from the organic category.
• Inorganic compounds include metal carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanide derivatives without organic residues.

Exclusions from Organic Compounds

• Alloys containing carbon, such as steel, are generally excluded from organic compounds.
• Metal and semimetal carbides, including ionic and covalent carbides, are considered inorganic.
• Metal carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and allotropes of carbon are also excluded from organic compounds.
• Cyanide derivatives without organic residues, halides of carbon without hydrogen, and other exotic oxocarbons are inorganic.
• Some metal carbonyls, like nickel tetracarbonyl, are classified as organometallic compounds and may be debated as organic.

Classification of Organic Compounds

• Organic compounds can be classified as natural or synthetic.
• Heteroatoms can be used to further classify organic compounds, such as organometallic compounds and organophosphorus compounds.
• Size is another classification criterion, distinguishing between small molecules and polymers.
• Natural compounds are produced by plants or animals.
• Many natural compounds are still extracted from natural sources due to cost considerations.
• Examples of natural compounds include sugars, alkaloids, terpenoids, and certain nutrients.
• Synthetic compounds are prepared by reactions of other compounds.
• Many polymers, including plastics and rubbers, are organic synthetic compounds.
• Synthetic compounds can be either naturally occurring compounds or artificial compounds.

Organic compound Data Sources