HISTORY
  • ORGANIC CHEMISTRY DEALS WITH THE COMPOUNDS OF CARBON. THE SCIENCE 
   OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IS CONSIDERED TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN 1685 WITH 
   THE  PUBLICATION  BY  LÉMERY  NOF  A  CHEMISTRY  BOOK  THAT  CLASSIFIED 
   SUBSTANCES  ACCORDING  TO  THEIR  ORIGIN  AS  MINERAL,  VEGETABLE,  OR 
   ANIMAL. COMPOUNDS DERIVED FROM PLANTS AND ANIMALS BECAME KNOWN 
   AS  ORGANIC  AND  THOSE  DERIVED  FROM  NONLIVING  SOURCES  WERE 
   INORGANIC.
  • UNTIL  1828  IT  WAS  BELIEVED  THAT  ORGANIC  COMPOUNDS  COULD  NOT  BE 
   FORMED EXCEPT BY LIVING PLANTS AND ANIMALS. THIS WAS KNOWN AS THE 
   VITAL-FORCE THEORY, AND BELIEF IN IT SEVERELY LIMITED THE DEVELOPMENT 
   OF  ORGANIC  CHEMISTRY.  WÖHLER,  IN  1828,  BY  ACCIDENT,  FOUND  THAT 
   APPLICATION OF HEAT TO AMMONIUM CYANATE, AN INORGANIC COMPOUND, 
   CAUSED  IT  TO  CHANGE  TO  UREA,  A  COMPOUND  CONSIDERED  ORGANIC  IN 
   NATURE. THIS DISCOVERY DEALT A DEATH BLOW TO THE VITAL-FORCE THEORY, 
   AND  BY  1850  MODERN  ORGANIC  CHEMISTRY  BECAME  WELL  ESTABLISHED. 
   TODAY ABOUT 13 MILLION ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ARE KNOWN.
  • MANY  OF  THESE  ARE  PRODUCTS  OF  SYNTHETIC  CHEMISTRY,  AND  SIMILAR 
   COMPOUNDS ARE NOT KNOWN IN NATURE. APPROXIMATELY 70,000 ORGANIC 
   CHEMICALS ARE IN COMMERCIAL USE.
  ELEMENTS
  • ALL ORGANIC COMPOUNDS CONTAIN CARBON IN COMBINATION WITH ONE OR MORE ELEMENTS. 
   THE  HYDROCARBONS CONTAIN ONLY CARBON AND HYDROGEN. A GREAT MANY COMPOUNDS 
   CONTAIN CARBON, HYDROGEN, AND OXYGEN, AND THEY ARE CONSIDERED TO BE THE MAJOR 
   ELEMENTS.
  •       MINOR ELEMENTS IN NATURALLY OCCURRING COMPOUNDS ARE NITROGEN, PHOSPHORUS, 
   AND SULFUR, AND SOMETIMES HALOGENS AND METALS. COMPOUNDS PRODUCED BY SYNTHESIS 
   MAY CONTAIN, IN ADDITION, A WIDE VARIETY OF OTHER ELEMENTS.
  PROPERTIES
  • ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, IN GENERAL, DIFFER GREATLY FROM INORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN SEVEN 
   RESPECTS:
  • 1. ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ARE USUALLY COMBUSTIBLE.
  • 2. ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, IN GENERAL, HAVE LOWER MELTING AND BOILING POINTS.
  • 3. ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ARE USUALLY LESS SOLUBLE IN WATER.
  • 4.  SEVERAL  ORGANIC  COMPOUNDS  MAY  EXIST  FOR  A  GIVEN  FORMULA.  THIS  IS  KNOWN  AS 
   ISOMERISM.
  • 5. REACTIONS OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ARE USUALLY MOLECULAR RATHER THAN IONIC. AS A 
   RESULT, THEY ARE OFTEN QUITE SLOW.
  • 6. THE MOLECULAR WEIGHTS OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS MAY BE VERY HIGH, OFTEN WELL OVER 
   1000.
  • 7. MOST ORGANIC COMPOUNDS CAN SERVE AS A SOURCE OF FOOD FOR BACTERIA.
  SOURCES
  • ORGANIC COMPOUNDS ARE DERIVED FROM THREE SOURCES:
  • 1.  NATURE:  FIBERS,  VEGETABLE  OILS,  ANIMAL  OILS  AND  FATS,  ALKALOIDS, 
   CELLULOSE, STARCH, SUGARS, AND SO ON.
  • 2.  SYNTHESIS:  A  WIDE  VARIETY  OF  COMPOUNDS AND  MATERIALS  PREPARED  BY 
   MANUFACTURING PROCESSES.
  • 3. FERMENTATION: ALCOHOLS, ACETONE, GLYCEROL, ANTIBIOTICS, ACIDS, AND THE 
   LIKE ARE DERIVED BY THE ACTION OF MICROORGANISMS UPON ORGANIC MATTER.
  •       THE WASTES PRODUCED IN THE PROCESSING OF NATURAL ORGANIC MATERIALS 
   AND  FROM  THE  SYNTHETIC  ORGANIC  AND  FERMENTATION  INDUSTRIES 
   CONSTITUTE  A  MAJOR  PART  OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  AND  HAZARDOUS  WASTE 
   PROBLEMS THAT ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS ARE CALLED UPON TO SOLVE.
  BEHAVIOR OF ORGANICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND IN ENGINEERED SYSTEMS
  • IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROPERTIES, BOTH PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND 
   STRUCTURAL, OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES AND CLASSES OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS TO AID IN UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTING 
   THE FATE, EFFECTS, AND POTENTIAL OF ENGINEERED PROCESSES FOR REMOVAL OR CONTROL OF THESE COMPOUNDS.
  • IN THE PREVIOUS SECTIONS CLASSES OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS WERE DESCRIBED WITH RESPECT TO THE FUNCTIONAL GROUP 
   OR GROUPS CHARACTERISTIC OF EACH CLASS OF COMPOUND.
  • THESE CHARACTERISTIC FUNCTIONAL GROUPS ALSO MANIFEST THEMSELVES IN OTHER IMPORTANT PROPERTIES THAT AID IN 
   UNDERSTANDING THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND IN ENGINEERED REACTORS. PHYSICOCHEMICAL 
   PROPERTIES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, SOLUBILITY, HYDROPHOBICITY, POLARITY, VOLATILITY, DENSITY, AND ENERGY 
   CONTENT. SOLUBILITY, HYDROPHOBICITY, AND POLARITY ARE SOMEWHAT RELATED AND ARE USEFUL IN UNDERSTANDING THE 
   TENDENCY OF ORGANICS TO PARTITION BETWEEN PHASES (I.E., SOLID-LIQUID OR LIQUID GAS PARTITIONING). VOLATILITY, 
   WHICH CAN BE QUANTIFIED USING HENRY’S CONSTANT OR VAPOR PRESSURE, IS USEFUL IN UNDERSTANDING PARTITIONING 
   BETWEEN THE GAS AND LIQUID PHASES. DENSITY IS USEFUL IN UNDERSTANDING PHYSICAL SEPARATION POTENTIAL AND 
   TRANSPORT BEHAVIOR. ENERGY CONTENT IS USEFUL IN PREDICTING BACTERIAL YIELDS. 
  FATE OF ORGANICS
  • IMPORTANT PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE MOVEMENT AND FATE OF ORGANICS IN THE 
  ENVIRONMENT AND IN ENGINEERED SYSTEMS ARE LISTED IN TABLE 1. PROCESSES 
  ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN UNDERSTANDING THE FATE AND REMOVAL OF ORGANICS 
  FOUND AT CONTAMINATED SITES AND IN INDUSTRIAL WASTES AND LEACHATES ARE 
  VOLATILIZATION, SORPTION, AND TRANSFORMATION REACTIONS.