Portal:Organic chemistry

Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Organic chemistry is a specific discipline within chemistry which involves the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation (by synthesis or by other means) of chemical compounds consisting primarily of carbon and hydrogen, which may contain any number of other elements, including nitrogen, oxygen, halogens as well as phosphorus, silicon and sulfur. Molecular models of caffeine The original definition of "organic" chemistry came from the misconception that organic compounds were always related to life processes. Not all organic compounds support life on Earth, but life as we know it also depends heavily on inorganic chemistry; for example, many enzymes rely on transition metals such as iron and copper; and materials such as shells, teeth and bones are part organic, part inorganic in composition. Apart from elemental carbon, inorganic chemistry deals only with simple carbon compounds, with molecular structures which do not contain carbon to carbon connections (its oxides, acids, carbonates, carbides, and minerals). This does not mean that single-carbon organic compounds do not exist (viz. methane and its simple derivatives). Biochemistry mainly deals with the chemistry of proteins (and other large biomolecules). Because of their unique properties, multi-carbon compounds exhibit extremely large variety and the range of application of organic compounds is enormous. They form the basis of, or are important constituents of many products (paints, plastics, food, explosives, drugs, petrochemicals, to name but a few) and (apart from a very few exceptions) they form the basis of all earthly life processes. The different shapes and chemical reactivities of organic molecules provide an astonishing variety of functions, like those of enzyme catalysts in biochemical reactions of live systems. The autopropagating nature of these organic chemicals is what life is all about. Trends in organic chemistry include chiral synthesis, green chemistry, microwave chemistry, fullerenes and microwave spectroscopy. The aldol reaction is an important carbon-carbon bond formation reaction in organic chemistry. In its usual form, it involves the nucleophilic addition of a ketone enolate to an aldehyde to form a β-hydroxy ketone, or "aldol" (aldehyde + alcohol), a structural unit found in many naturally occurring molecules and pharmaceuticals. 200px Sometimes, the aldol addition product loses a molecule of water during the reaction to form an α,β-unsaturated ketone. This is called an aldol condensation. The aldol reaction was discovered independently by Charles-Adolphe Wurtz and by Alexander Porfyrevich Borodin in 1872. Borodin observed the aldol dimerization of 3-hydroxybutanal from acetaldehyde under acidic conditions. The aldol reaction is used widely in the large scale production of commodity chemicals such as pentaerythritol and in the pharmaceutical industry for the synthesis of optically pure drugs. For example, Pfizer's initial route to the heart disease drug Lipitor (INN: atorvastatin), approved in 1996, employed two aldol reactions, allowing access to multigram-scale quantities of the drug. The aldol structural motif is especially common in polyketides, a class of natural products from which many pharmaceuticals are derived, including the potent immunosuppressant FK506, the tetracycline antibiotics, and the antifungal agent amphotericin B. Extensive research on the aldol reaction has produced highly efficient methods which enable the otherwise challenging synthesis of many polyketides in the laboratory. 200px Paclitaxel is an important drug used for the treatment of cancer. Its complex structure provided a challenging target for its total synthesis by the Nicolaou group. The colors indicate the approach they used. The Wittig reaction is a chemical reaction of an aldehyde or ketone with a triphenyl phosphonium ylide (often called a Wittig reagent) to give an alkene and triphenylphosphine oxide. Wittig Reaction The Wittig reaction was discovered in 1954 by Georg Wittig, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1979. It is widely used in organic synthesis for the preparation of alkenes. It should not be confused with the Wittig rearrangement. Wittig reactions are most commonly used to couple aldehydes and ketones to singly substituted phosphine ylides. With simple ylides this results in almost exclusively the Z-alkene product. In order to obtain the E-alkene, the Schlosser modification of the Wittig reaction can be performed. Chemicals Chemistry Molecular and Cellular Biology Polymers Elias James Corey (born July 12, 1928) is a renowned American organic chemist. In 1990 he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthetic analysis. Regarded by many as one of the greatest living chemists, he has developed numerous synthetic reagents, methodologies, and has advanced the science of organic synthesis considerably. He was awarded the Japan Prize in 1989. He was born "William" to Christian Lebanese immigrants in Methuen, Massachusetts, 30 miles north of Boston. His mother changed his name to "Elias" to honor his father who died eighteen months after the birth of his son. His widowed mother, brother, two sisters and an aunt and uncle all lived together in a spacious house- struggling through the depression. He attended Catholic elementary school and Lawrence public High School.[1] ▼ Organic chemistry ► Organic chemists ► Functional groups ► Organic reactions ► Organometallic chemistry ► Stereochemistry ► Total synthesis ► Organic chemistry stubs MIT OpenCourseWare: Organic Chemistry I Organic Chemistry Lectures, Videos and Text Journal of Organic Chemistry (Table of Contents) Organic Letters (Table of Contents) Synlett Synthesis Organic Chemistry Portal - Recent Abstracts and (Name)Reactions SynArchive - Total Syntheses and Named Reactions Home of a full, online, peer-reviewed organic chemistry text. Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry Organic World Wide - A collection of Links Roger Frost's Chemistry Teaching Tools - Organic Chemistry Organic chemistry help Organic Chemisty Tutor Chemical Freeware on http://www.acdlabs.com wikichemistry.org - chemistry you can edit organic nomenclature IUPAC Blue Book (organic nomenclature) IUPAC ligand abbreviations (pdf) Organic reactions namedreactions [2] [3] List of organic reactions List of organic compounds List of inorganic compounds List of biomolecules Chemical synthesis Solid-phase synthesis Asymmetric synthesis Convergent synthesis Divergent synthesis Chemical engineering Organic synthesis Total synthesis Peptide synthesis Methods in Organic Synthesis Drug discovery Functional group Leaving group Protecting group Organic compound Acetals Alcohols Aldehydes Alkaloids Amides Amidines Amines Aromatic bases Aromatic compounds Biomolecules Carbohydrates Coenzymes Diazo compounds Esters Ethers Guanidines Heterocyclic compound Hydrazines Hydrocarbons Imines Isocyanates Isocyanides Ketals Ketones Lipids Macrocycles Nitriles Nitro compounds Organic acids Organic minerals Organic peroxides Organic polymers Organohalides Organometallic compounds Organonitrogen compounds Organophosphorus Organosulfur compounds Peptides Phenols Polycyclic compounds Quaternary ammonium compounds Reactive intermediates Salts and esters of carboxylic acids Steroids Terpenes and terpenoids Organic reaction Addition reactions Carbon-carbon bond forming reactions Carbon-heteroatom bond forming reactions Condensation reactions Elimination reactions Free radical reactions Heterocycle forming reactions Organic redox reactions Protein biosynthesis Rearrangement reactions Substitution reactions Addition reactions Carbon-carbon bond forming reactions Carbon-heteroatom bond forming reactions Condensation reactions Elimination reactions Free radical reactions Heterocycle forming reactions Organic redox reactions Protein biosynthesis Rearrangement reactions Substitution reactions According to the Reaction's Mechanism Addition reactions include such reactions as halogenation, hydrohalogenation and hydration. The main addition reactions are: electrophilic addition or EA nucleophilic addition or NA radical addition or RA Elimination reactions include processes such as dehydration and are found to follow an E1, E2 or E1cB reaction mechanism Substitution reactions are divided into: nucleophilic aliphatic substitution with SN1, SN2 and SNi reaction mechanisms nucleophilic aromatic substitution or NAS nucleophilic acyl substitution electrophilic substitution or ES electrophilic aromatic substitution or EAS radical substitution or RS Organic redox reactions are redox reactions specific to organic compounds and are very common. Rearrangement reactions are divided into: 1,2-rearrangements pericyclic reactions metathesis In Condensation reactions, a small molecule, usually water, is split off when two reactants combine in a chemical reaction. The opposite reaction, when water is consumed in a reaction, is called hydrolysis. Many Polymerization reactions are derived from organic reactions. They are divided into addition polymerizations and step-growth polymerizations. Biology Chemistry Analytical chemistry Physical chemistry What are portals? List of portals Featured portals