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# Organic chemistry

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The branch of chemistry concerned with the production and study of molecules containing carbon, known as organic compounds.

For some time it was believed that organic compounds could only be produced by living organisms (hence the name) until the synthesis of urea by Friedrich Woehler in 1828.

The specific study of the molecules made by living things, and their effects on living things, is called biochemistry.

Central to the practice of organic chemistry is the ability to create and understand the names of organic compounds, to be able to effectively use organic nomenclature.

Formally, rules established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry are authoritative for the names of organic compounds, but in practice, a number of simply-applied rules can allow one to use and understand the names of many organic compounds.

For many compounds, naming can begin by determining the name of the parent hydrocarbon and by identifying any functional groups in the molecule that distinguish it from the parent hydrocarbon. The numbering of the parent alkane is used, as modified, if necessary, by application of the Cahn Ingold Prelog priority rules in the case that ambiguity remains after consideration of the structure of the parent hydrocarbon alone. The name of the parent hydrocarbon is modified by the application of the highest-priority functional group suffix, with the remaining functional groups indicated by numbered prefixes, appearing in the name in alphabetical order from first to last.

In many cases, lack of rigor in applying all such nomeclature rules still yields a name that is intelligible--the aim, of course, being to avoid any ambiguity in terms of what substance is being discussed.

For instance, strict application of CIP priority to the naming of the compound

     NH2CH2CH2OH

would render the name as 2-hydroxypropanamine. However, the more elegant name 2-aminopropanol unambiguously refers to the same compound, and is preferred.

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Last edited August 5, 2001 5:20 pm (diff)
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