Organic chemistry is the study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-containing compounds. Most organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, but they may also include any number of other elements (e.g., nitrogen, oxygen, halogens, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur).
Originally limited to the study of compounds produced by living organisms, organic chemistry has been broadened to include human-made substances (e.g., plastics).
Organic chemistry is a highly creative science that allows chemists to create and explore molecules and compounds. Organic chemists spend much of their time developing new compounds and finding better ways of synthesising existing ones.
Organic compounds are all around us. Many modern materials are at least partially composed of organic compounds. They’re central to economic growth, and are foundational to the fields of biochemistry, biotechnology, and medicine. Examples of where you can find organic compounds include agrichemicals, coatings, cosmetics, detergent, dyestuff, food, fuel, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and rubber.
Biotechnology - Virtually all biotechnology (“biotech”) products are the result of organic chemistry. Biotech involves using living organisms and bioprocesses to create or modify products for a specific use.
Consumer Products - Most consumer products we use involve organic chemistry. Take the cosmetics industry as an example. Organic chemistry examines how the skin responds to metabolic and environmental factors, and chemists formulate products accordingly.
Other examples of everyday products that involve organic chemistry include soaps, plastic goods, perfume, coal, and food additives.
Organic Industrial Chemistry - Crucial to modern world economies, organic industrial chemistry focuses on converting raw materials (e.g., oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into consumer and industrial products.
Today, organic industrial chemistry is based mainly on petroleum and natural gas. Because these are finite raw materials, a lot of industry focus is on learning how to convert renewable resources (e.g., plants) into industrial organic chemicals.
Petroleum - The largest-volume petroleum products are fuel oil and gasoline. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products.
Pharmaceutical - The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs used as medications for humans or animals. Some pharmaceutical companies deal in brand-name and/or generic medications and medical devices (agents that act on diseases without chemical interaction with the body).
Government - Federal offices as well as state and local governments hire organic chemists in the fields of specialisation noted above.
Most of the people that study chemistry will tell you that organic chemistry is hard. This is true in some ways but you shouldn’t stress over it. There are many materials online that can help you with organic chemistry and also there are plenty of online teachers available. With the TutorExtra platform, you can find a teacher that suits your needs and she/he can help you with your chemistry problems.
When someone carefully explains the contents and teaches the material slowly, with examples it makes everything much easier to understand.
The physical properties of organic compounds typically include both quantitative and qualitative features. Quantitative information includes a melting point, boiling point, and index of refraction. Qualitative properties include odour, consistency, solubility, and colour.
Melting and boiling properties. Organic compounds typically melt and many boil. In contrast, while inorganic materials generally can be melted, many do not boil, and instead tend to degrade. In earlier times, the melting point (m.p.) and boiling point (b.p.) provided crucial information on the purity and identity of organic compounds. The melting and boiling points correlate with the polarity of the molecules and their molecular weight.
Some organic compounds, especially symmetrical ones, sublime. A well-known example of a sublimable organic compound is para-dichlorobenzene, the odiferous constituent of modern mothballs. Organic compounds are usually not very stable at temperatures above 300 °C, although some exceptions exist.
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