CHEM 1C

ORGANIC
CHEMISTRY
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ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- study of carbon and carbon compounds
- study of hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon
derivatives

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The practice of organic chemistry
has been going on since the
prehistoric times. The ancient
Romans, Egyptians and the
Phoenicians used dyes, which
were pure compounds isolated
from plant and animal sources.
They converted animal fat into
soap and fermented sugars to
yield alcohol.
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Organic Chemistry started in the part of the
18th century when there was a determined
effort to isolate pure organic compounds. At
the same time, materials were classified as
organic, those derived from living sources,
and inorganic, those coming from minerals.
In contrast to inorganic substances, organic
compounds were thought to contain a “vital
force”, a mysterious metaphysical ingredient
that could only be supplied by living
organisms. Compounds from plants and
animals were often difficult to isolate and
purify. Even when pure, they were difficult to
work with and tended to decompose more
easily than compounds from minerals.
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BRIEF HISTORY
Swedish chemist Torbern
Bergman was the first .

person to express the

difference between organic Kolbe synthesized acetic
and inorganic compounds acid from the elements

1828 1856

1770 . 1845
.
Friedrich Wöhler found that it Berthelot synthesized methane
was possible to convert the
inorganic salt ammonium cyanate
into urea, an organic compound
isolated from urine
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BRIEF HISTORY
August Kekule (Germany) and
Archibald Couper (Scotland) were
the first to recognize that in all organic
compounds, carbon has four “affinity
units”, said to be tetravalent

1874

1858 .

Jacobus Van’t Hoff and Joseph

Le Bel proposed that the four
bonds of carbon are not randomly
oriented but have a specific
spatial orientation
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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORGANIC AND

INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUND INORGANIC COMPOUND
soluble in organic soluble in water and
Solubility
solvents inorganic solvents
Melting Point and
lower higher
Boiling Point
Stability towards heat less stable more stable
combustible except
Combustibility not combustible
organic halides
Ionization do not ionize in solution high degree of ionization
Acidity/ Alkalinity low degree high degree
Bond covalent ionic
C, H, O, S, N, P, and almost all elements in the
Chemical structure
halogens periodic table
non-conductor of
Conductivity good conductor of electricity
electricity
Isomerism high none
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VERSATILITY AND UNIQUENESS OF CARBON

1. Atoms of carbon can unite with one another by sharing one or more
pairs of electron to from chains, both branched and unbranched, or
ring molecules.

C C C C C C C C C
C C
2. Carbon atoms have four valence electrons so it always forms 4
covalent bonds.
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VERSATILITY AND UNIQUENESS OF CARBON

3. Organic molecules exhibit isomerism. Even the same number and
kind of atoms are present, different organic compounds can be
formed if the arrangement of these atoms is changed,

C C C C OH C C C OH
C
C C C OH
C
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Thank you!