Answer: Organic chemistry is the field of chemistry over the study of organic substances and compounds – that is, those that contain carbon in their molecular structure, combined with other elements such as hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur.
This type of chemistry focuses mainly on analyzing the structure, properties, behaviors, and uses of chemical compounds that help answer how life works in our environment. This, in turn, allows us to understand how chemical processes occur in living organisms, as well as how they operate at the molecular level.
Nucleic acids, enzymes, and proteins are organic substances since these are living compounds. By understanding their structure and molecular transformation, we can harness their full potential. This is only possible thanks to organic chemistry.
What is the origin of organic chemistry?
The term “organic chemistry” was first used in about 1807, when Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius introduced it to explain the study of compounds derived from the living resources available in nature.
However, it was not until 1828 that German scientist Friedrich Wöhler experimented in laboratories with ammonium cyanate (an inorganic substance) and discovered that it could be converted into urea, an organic substance, through chemical processes. Through these experiments, he proved that organic matter could be synthesized in a laboratory without being linked to life, thus refuting Berzelius’s theory.
Later, in the year 1861, German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz defined organic chemistry as the branch of chemistry dealing with carbon compounds; this was a pioneering move in putting carbon at the heart of this field.
Today, organic chemistry can be applied to almost any field, from transportation to food, the pharmaceutical industry, and genetics.
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