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Concept

Organic chemistry

A molecular structure with interconnected spheres and rods, one containing a dark liquid, symbolizes organic chemistry concepts.

The chemistry of carbon-containing compounds, originally defined in the early nineteenth century as the chemistry of substances produced by living things. The distinction collapsed in 1828 when Friedrich Wöhler synthesised urea from inorganic precursors, but the name stuck. Modern organic chemistry covers pharmaceuticals, polymers, fuels, dyes, and the biochemistry of every living cell — all of it built on carbon's four-bond geometry.

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