Organic Chemistry

Abstract

Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds, excluding carbonates and the oxides of carbon. Many of these compounds are associated with the living world, e.g. proteins and sugars are organic compounds. There are a very large number of organic compounds since carbon atoms can join together in many different ways to form rings and chains of atoms. These compounds can be divided into families known as homologous series, in which all the members can be represented by the same general formula. The members have similar chemical properties and the physical properties change gradually as the relative molecular mass changes.