News tagged with organic chemistry

Chemists reveal how algae delete unwanted 'competitors'

Every morning when the sun comes up, the ocean ground is radically cleaned. As soon as the first rays of sunlight find their way into the water, the microalgae "Nitzschia cf pellucida" start their deadly 'morning ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover method to unravel malaria's genetic secrets

The parasite that causes malaria is a genetic outlier, which has prevented scientists from discovering the functions of most of its genes. Researchers at National Jewish Health and Yale University School of Medicine have ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Avoid the fallout: New ligands for nuclear waste treatment

(PhysOrg.com) -- Storage and containment of the "nuclear legacy", the highly radiotoxic residues from spent nuclear reactors is a pressing problem for the nuclear power industry that must be solved if nuclear ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Graphene: Impressive capabilities on the horizon

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), along with other funding agencies, helped a Rice University research team make graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applications—especially the promise ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Researchers identify lipid profile characteristic of newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes

(PhysOrg.com) -- A journal article showcasing results of lipidomics analyses for identifying novel biomarkers of diabetes conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was selected as "Editor's Choice" ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 30, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New satellite observations reveal link between forests and acid rain

A team from LATMOS/IPSL, working in collaboration with Belgian researchers from the Institut d'Aeronomie Spatiale de Belgique (IASB) and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), have revealed the existence ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 4

Visualization of DNA synthesis in vivo

Researchers of the University of Zurich have discovered a new substance for labeling and visualization of DNA synthesis in whole animals. Applications for this technique include identifying the sites of virus ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Soy is on top as a high-quality plant protein

The importance of protein in the human body is undeniable. However, the idea of what makes a protein a "quality protein" has not been as easy to determine. A new study from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry takes ...

Chemistry / Other

created Dec 06, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Two-step technique makes graphene suitable for organic chemistry

The future brightened for organic chemistry when researchers at Rice University found a highly controllable way to attach organic molecules to pristine graphene, making the miracle material suitable for a ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 29, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

New study may lead to better, safer drug for diabetes

A Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) study published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals that a natural fatty acid can serve as a regulator of blood sugar levels, which may have important applications ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Cold chemistry: Icy dust specks could provide interstellar staging ground for complex organic chemical reactions

The creation of the Universe was a messy business, and billions of years after the Big Bang, material still litters the dark space between stars. In these cold interstellar regions, gas and dust specks swirl together, sometimes ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Unexpected role of noise in spine formation

The development of periodic structures in embryos giving rise to the formation of, e.g., spine segments, is controlled not by genes but by simple physical and chemical phenomena. Researchers from the Institute of Physical ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 29, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

How the N2O greenhouse gas is decomposed

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a harmful climate gas. Its effect as a greenhouse gas is 300 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide destroys the ozone layer. In industrial agriculture, it is generated ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 22, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Researchers demonstrate green tea is effective in treating genetic disorder and types of tumors

A compound found in green tea shows great promise for the development of drugs to treat two types of tumors and a deadly congenital disease. The discovery is the result of research led by Principal Investigator, ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Aug 15, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New treatment option for advanced prostate cancer

A successful interdisciplinary project is underway between two research groups, in which senior researcher Rebecka Hellsten and Professor Anders Bjartell at the Faculty of Medicine's division for Urological Cancer Research, ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Aug 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a 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 that contain carbon. These compounds may contain any number of other elements, including hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, the halogens as well as phosphorus, silicon and sulfur.

The original definition of "organic" chemistry came from the misconception that organic compounds were always related to life processes. However, organic molecules can be produced by processes not involving life. Life as we know it also depends 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, only certain classes of carbon compounds (such as oxides, carbonates, and carbides) are conventionally considered inorganic. Biochemistry deals mainly with the natural chemistry of biomolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, and sugars.

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.

Current (as of 2008) trends in organic chemistry include chiral synthesis, green chemistry, microwave chemistry, fullerenes and microwave spectroscopy.

For more information about Organic chemistry, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.