Get to know hydrocarbons
Now we can begin to classify hydrocarbons, which are compounds composed only of carbon and hydrogen. Other carbon compounds can be viewed as derivatives of this hydrocarbon.
2 Hydrocarbon groups
Hydrocarbons can be divided into two main groups:
- aliphatic hydrocarbons: Included in this first group are compounds with straight chains, branch chains and circular chains. Based on the multiples of the carbon-carbon bonds, aliphatic hydrocarbons can be further divided into two sub-groups, namely:
- saturated hydrocarbons containing carbon-carbon single bonds,
- unsaturated hydrocarbons containing at least one double bond, or triple bond.
- aromatic hydrocarbons: A group of aromatic hydrocarbons, usually containing a very stable ring of carbon atoms.
Hydrocarbons and Carbon chemistry
Because hydrocarbon compounds consist of carbon and hydrogen, one part of chemistry that deals with everything about hydrocarbons is called carbon chemistry. In the past, carbon chemistry was called organic chemistry, because its compounds were thought to only be obtained from living organisms and could not be synthesized in factories.
The first carbon to be synthesized
In 1928, Friedrich Wohler succeeded in synthesizing first urea (a compound found in urine) from inorganic compounds, namely ammonium cyanate by heating it.
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| Friedrich Wohler and Wohler .'s heating reaction of ammonium cyanate |
After Wohler's first success was known, many other scholars tried to make carbon compounds from inorganic compounds. Gradually the theory of the meaning of life disappeared and people only used organic chemistry as a name without adjusting it to its true meaning.
Since then many compounds have been successfully synthesized and until now more than 2 million carbon compounds are known to people and continue to grow every day. Why is the number of carbon compounds so large compared to the number of inorganic compounds which is only about a hundred thousand?