What Is Organic Chemistry

As a premed student I entered organic chemistry with some level of anxiety. This seemed to be the course that I had heard thinned the ranks of prospective physicians by getting a poor grade or failing. For me it was a generally enjoyable course, and I went on to major in chemistry, and did most of my advance course work in organic chemistry. Organic chemistry is really carbon chemistry. This is because the carbon atom is the backbone of all living creature's molecules.

Carbon is an interesting element in that it has 8 protons and 8 electrons. In the simple Bohr model of thinking of electron levels, the innermost level has 2 electrons. Then next level has 8 electrons, of which 6 are filled with the electrons of the carbon molecule. This leaves two places empty, and so allows carbon molecules to easily form chains where two carbon to carbon molecules share one of their outer level electrons in a C-C bond. Hydrogen molecules which have a single electron in the innermost level that can accommodate 2 electrons often in nature binds with carbon molecules by sharing their electron with a carbon molecule to form a C-H bond. In this way chains of carbon molecules with C-H bonds occupying most of all of the available electron levels can from molecules called hydrocarbons.

Hydrocarbons in chains and often in 5 or 6 carbon loops make up many of the skeletons of the molecules in living organisms. Oxygen molecules are often incorporated, either as -OH moieties or a double bonded C=O bonds less commonly form most of the other covalent bonds in living organisms. Other elements like phosphorous, sulfa and nitrogen play key roles, but in organic chemistry there were definitely fringe players.

A solid understanding of the nomenclature and properties of carbon chemistry was the key to success in the basic organic chemistry courses. It was a great framework for understanding biochemistry and the basic science work of med school too.