In the 1810s, Jöns Jacob Berzelius argued that a regulative force must exist within living bodies. Vitalism was a widespread conception that substances found in organic nature are formed from the chemical elements by the action of a 'vital force' or 'life-force' ( vis vitalis) that only living organisms possess. In chemical nomenclature, an organyl group, frequently represented by the letter R, refers to any monovalent substituent whose open valence is on a carbon atom. This ultimate derivation notwithstanding, organic compounds are no longer defined as compounds originating in living things, as they were historically. Most synthetically-produced organic compounds are ultimately derived from petrochemicals consisting mainly of hydrocarbons, which are themselves formed from the high pressure and temperature degradation of organic matter underground over geological timescales. Living things incorporate inorganic carbon compounds into organic compounds through a network of processes ( the carbon cycle) that begins with the conversion of carbon dioxide and a hydrogen source like water into simple sugars and other organic molecules by autotrophic organisms using light ( photosynthesis) or other sources of energy. Īlthough organic compounds make up only a small percentage of Earth's crust, they are of central importance because all known life is based on organic compounds. Other than those just named, little consensus exists among chemists on precisely which carbon-containing compounds are excluded, making any rigorous definition of an organic compound elusive. For historical reasons, a few classes of carbon-containing compounds (e.g., carbonate salts and cyanide salts), along with a few other exceptions (e.g., carbon dioxide), are not classified as organic compounds and are considered inorganic. The study of the properties, reactions, and syntheses of organic compounds comprise the discipline known as organic chemistry. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon- hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Methane, CH 4 is among the simplest organic compounds.

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