Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Organic compound

Organic compounds are those that are not composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

Methane is one of the simplest organic compounds. An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates, simple oxides of carbon and cyanides, as well as the allotropes of carbon, are considered inorganic. The division between "organic" and "inorganic" carbon compounds while "useful in organizing the vast subject of chemistry...is somewhat arbitrary".

Organic chemistry is the science concerned with all aspects of organic compounds. Organic synthesis is the methodology of their preparation.