Expected questions/doubts:

In 1807, Berzelins proposed the term ‘Organic Chemistry’.

It was about compound derived from natural source.

Based of theory of ‘vitalism’ which said that all living

systems possessed a ‘vital force’ which was absent in
non-living systems.

Compounds derived from living natural sources (organic)

were thought to be fundamentally different from
inorganic compounds.

Philosophically thinking, the vitalism theory was explained

as the mysterious force god instilled in the living systems,

In 1823, Friedrich Wohler joined Berzelins as his student.

In 1828, Wohler made a discovery which changed the

definition of organic chemistry.

Wohler conducted the following experiment-

Wohler successfully synthesized an organic compound

starting from an inorganic compound.

Following this, many others synthesized organic

compounds starting from inorganic compounds. Thus, the
theory of vitalism and the definition of organic chemistry
lost its meaning.

But what was common in all the above compounds

synthesized was the presence of carbon. Carbon shows a
special property catenation.

Carbon can connect with other carbon atoms to form long

chains and rings (self-catenation) and can connect with
atoms of many other elements in the periodic table
(cross-catenation). Because of this reason, carbon can
form a wide variety of compounds. Therefore, the
modern definition of organic chemistry is the study of
carbon compounds.

Probably, the vital force can be explained by the fact that

most of the life-giving and life-sustaining functions are
performed by carbon compounds, for example, the
human tissues and skin are formed by proteins,
respiration is possible due to haemoglobin, the
information in our genes is carried out in the form of
DNA/RNA etc.

Additional
Notes: