CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
1.1 Historical Background of Organic Chemistry
Organic chemistry is the area of chemistry that involves the study of carbon
and its compounds. Carbon is now known to form a seemingly unlimited number
of compounds. The uses of organic compounds impact our lives daily in medicine,
agriculture, and general life.
In theory (Oparin, 1923) organic chemistry may have its beginnings with the
big bang when the components of ammonia, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and methane
combined to form amino acids, an experiment that has been verified in the laboratory
(Miller, 1950). Organic chemicals were used in ancient times by Romans and
Egyptians as dyes, medicines and poisons from natural sources, but the chemical
composition of the substances was unknown.
In the 16th century organic compounds were isolated from nature in the pure
state (Scheele, 1769) and analytical methods were developed for determination of
elemental composition (Lavoisier, 1784).
Scientists believed (Berzelius, 1807) that organic chemicals found in nature
contained a special "vital force" that directed their natural synthesis, and therefore, it
would be impossible to accomplish a laboratory synthesis of the chemicals.
Fortunately, later in the century Frederich Wöhler (1828) discovered that urea, a
natural component in urine, could be synthesized in the laboratory by heating
ammonium cyanate. His discovery meant that the natural "vital force" was not
required to synthesis organic compounds, and paved the way for many chemists to
synthesize organic compounds.
By the middle of the nineteenth century many advances had been made into
the discovery, analysis and synthesis of many new organic compounds.
Understanding about the structures of organic chemistry began with a theory of
bonding called valence theory (Kekule, Couper, 1858).
Organic chemistry developed into a productive and exciting science in the
nineteenth century. Many new synthetic methods, reaction mechanisms, analytical
techniques and structural theories have been developed. Toward the end of the
century much of the knowledge of organic chemistry has been expanded to the