Organic Chemistry Facts
Organic Chemistry Facts
|
| Interesting Organic Chemistry Facts: |
|---|
| Up through the 1800s, common belief held that living things contained a "life force" that made them different from non-living things. |
| This was known as vitalism, or vital force theory. |
| Systematic research at the time began to include studies of organic compounds. |
| Michael Chevreul first published studies using fat-based and alkali-based soaps in 1816. |
| By breaking down the soaps into component parts, he was able to demonstrate that chemicals produced a measurable change in the organic fats. |
| In 1828, Friedrich Wohler created carbamide, an organic compound, from an inorganic compound through the approach known as Wohler synthesis. |
| One of the chief turning points with practical applications came in 1856 when William Henry Perkin created an organic dye; it proved lucrative due to commercial uses, but also sparked a greater focus on organic chemistry. |
| When Friedrich August Kekulé and Archibald Scott Couper separately developed the concept of chemical structure in 1858, researchers of the day finally had a model with which to understand organic chemistry. |
| Both of them independently of each other theorized that carbon atoms could form a lattice and that the various patterns could be produced by different chemical reactions. |
| While much of the practical applications of organic chemistry research were often misunderstood and purely accidental, a blossoming pharmaceutical industry was launched from the better understanding of organic compounds. |
| One of these innovations to have the first tremendous impact was aspirin. |
| The twentieth century saw the scientific understanding of polymers and enzymes, which led to the controversial and crucial understanding the petroleum was a biological byproduct of life. |
| The connection between chemical compounds and biological structures was studied in more depth, leading to the knowledge that biological organisms are complex carbon compounds. |
| Many various techniques had to be developed in order to evaluate the naturally occurring mixture form of many carbon-based organic compounds. |
| These compounds were often described using different chemical tests called "wet methods." |
| When various types of spectroscopy were developed, wet methods were no longer considered as reliable as they once were. |
| Now, nuclear magnetic resonance is one of the most commonly used ways to determine carbon compound results as hydrogen and carbon both exist in a natural state with the isotopes that respond to NMR indicators. |
|
Related Links: Facts Chemistry Facts Animals Facts Chemistry Formulas |