ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN DAILY LIFE
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Give definitions of organic chemistry, biology and biochemistry in your own words.
What is organic chemistry?
It is more than just the study of compounds containing carbon-carbon or carbon-hydrogen bonds. It is the study of all the chemical reactions related to life.
All living things are made of carbon compounds1, and all the processes that happen in living things are chemical reactions involving carbon compounds. The ability of carbon to make so many different compounds creates the rich diversity of life on Earth1.
Carbon atoms can combine with each other in uncountable numbers of ways. For example, carbon atoms arranged in one way become soft, pliable graphite; rearranged in another way they form diamond, one of the hardest materials in the world.
The principles of chemical structure and bonding are crucial for understanding the structures of biological macromolecules contained in all living things. Macromolecules contain thousands of carbon and hydrogen atoms and are composed of many smaller molecules bonded together. They include proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and lipids.
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1 Carbon compounds surround us. Paper, plants, plastic, plants, our clothes and we ourselves contain carbon.
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1 Watch the video and find out why carbon is special.
Why is the Carbon Atom said to be unique? posted by theCLOUDSCHOOL
Functional groups
The concept of functional groups is central in organic chemistry, both as a means to classify structures and for predicting properties. Functional groups are groups of atoms in organic molecules that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules. Functional groups can have a decisive influence on the chemical and physical properties of organic compounds.
Organic compounds
Our world is shaped by organic compounds: the foods we eat, the clothes we wear, the fuels we use, the medicines we take, plastics or polymers in general, soaps and detergents, perfumes and toiletries, cosmetics, synthetic fibres and the vast array of petrochemicals that power our modern world – petrol (gasoline in AmE), coal, natural gas and various other forms of oil, used either directly or indirectly in providing us with heat, light, and electric power.
