Characteristic of Organic Compounds

1017 Words3 Pages

What are organic compounds, you may ask? Well organic compounds are compounds that always contain carbon, or any compound that contains a carbon atom. But some describe organic compounds as any of a large class of chemical compounds in which one or more atoms of carbon are covalently linked to atoms of other elements, most commonly are hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. But there are a few exceptions to this organic rule, which are carbon monoxide, carbonates, carbon dioxide, cyanides, cyanates, carbides, and thyocyanates, which are all considered inorganic. The term organic compound comes from the early notation that organic compounds could only be synthesized in living organisms through vis-vitalis (a life-force).
Furthermore, organic compounds are considered organic because in chemistry, organic means “carbon based”. Any compound that is carbon based is considered organic. That is, an organic compound is any compound whose molecules contain carbon atoms. All living things are made of compounds containing mostly carbon. Organic compounds are important to living, and they are associated with the life processes. The properties of carbon make it the backbone of the organic molecules which form living matter. Organic compounds are important for life and they include small monomers, as well as macromolecules, also called polymers. Some organic molecules even include carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids which are the essentials for life processes.
The chemical reactions that build up organic compounds are called Dehydration Synthesis or Condensation Reaction. Dehydration synthesis is a chemical reaction that builds up molecules by losing water molecules. Organic compounds are formed when polymers combine with monomers...

... middle of paper ...

.../2/3/3/0/23309688/notes_orgonic_compounds .pdf>.
"Glucose." Sugars. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. .
"Organic Compounds." Organic Compounds. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. .
"Lipids." About.com Biology. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. .
Infoplease. The Chemistry of Biology, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
Postlethwait, John H., and Janet L. Hopson. "Biochemistry." Modern Biology. Orlando: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. N. pag. Print.
Biomolecules:Protein 1." Peptide Bonds. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
"Nucleic Acids." Nucleic Acids. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. .

More about Characteristic of Organic Compounds

Open Document