What's New

A Brief History of Organic Chemistry

Organic Chemistry is the study of

compounds that contain carbon. It is
one of the major branches of
chemistry. The history of organic
chemistry can be traced back to the
ancient times when medicine men
extracted chemicals from plants
and animals to treat members of their
tribes. They didn't label their work
as ''organic chemistry'', they
simply kept the records of the useful
properties and uses of things like
willow bark which was used as a pain
killer. (It is now known that willow bark contains acetylslicylic
acid, the ingredient in aspirin - chewing on the bark
extracted the aspirin.) Their knowledge formed the basis of modern
pharmacology which has a strong dependence on knowledge of
organic chemistry.

Organic chemistry was first defined as a branch of modern science in

the early 1800's by Jon Jacob Berzelius. He classified chemical
compounds into two main groups: organic if they originated in living or
once-living matter and inorganic if they come from ''mineral'' or non-
living matter. Like most chemists of his era, Berzelius in Vitalism - the
idea that organic compounds could only originate from living
organisms through the action of some vital force. It was a student of
Berzelius' who made the discovery that would result in the
abandonment
of Vitalism as a
scientific
theory. In
1828,
Frederich
Wohler discovered that urea - an organic compound - could be made
by heating ammonium cyanate (an organic compound). Wohler mixed
silver cyanate and ammonium chloride to produce solid silver chloride
and aqueous and ammonium cyanate.
What's New
A Brief History of Organic Chemistry

Organic Chemistry is the study of

compounds that contain carbon. It is
one of the major branches of
chemistry. The history of organic
chemistry can be traced back to the
ancient times when medicine men
extracted chemicals from plants
and animals to treat members of their
tribes. They didn't label their work
as ''organic chemistry'', they
simply kept the records of the useful
properties and uses of things like
willow bark which was used as a pain
killer. (It is now known that willow bark contains acetylslicylic
acid, the ingredient in aspirin - chewing on the bark
extracted the aspirin.) Their knowledge formed the basis of modern
pharmacology which has a strong dependence on knowledge of
organic chemistry.

Organic chemistry was first defined as a branch of modern science in

the early 1800's by Jon Jacob Berzelius. He classified chemical
compounds into two main groups: organic if they originated in living or
once-living matter and inorganic if they come from ''mineral'' or non-
living matter. Like most chemists of his era, Berzelius in Vitalism - the
idea that organic compounds could only originate from living
organisms through the action of some vital force. It was a student of
Berzelius' who made the discovery that would result in the
abandonment
of Vitalism as a
scientific
theory. In
1828,
Frederich
Wohler discovered that urea - an organic compound - could be made
by heating ammonium cyanate (an organic compound). Wohler mixed
silver cyanate and ammonium chloride to produce solid silver chloride
and aqueous and ammonium cyanate.
 He then seperated the mixture by filtration and tried to purify the
aqueous ammonium cyanate by evaporating the water. To his
surprise, the solid left over after the evporation of the water was not
ammonium cyanate, it was a substance with the propertie of urea!
Wohler's observation marked the first time an organic compound had
ben synthesized from an inorganic source.

A Turning Point in Science History

Wohler's discover was a turning point in science history for two

reasons; First, it underestimated the idea of Vitalism because an
organic compound was produced from an inorganic one. However, it
also represented the discovery of isomerism - the possibility of two
or more different structures (ammonium cyanate crystals and urea
crystals) based on the same chemical formula (N2H4CO) Chemists
started searching for reasons to explain isomerism. That in turn led to
theories about the structure of chemical compounds.

The German chemist August Kekule gets the credit, but both he and
the Scottish chemist Archibald Scott Couper developed the theory
of chemical structurein 1858. By the 1860's, chemists like Kekule
were proposing theories on the relationship between a compound's
chemical formula and the physical distribution of its atoms. By the
1900's, chemists were trying to determine the nature of chemical
bonding by developing models for electron distribution. During all of
this time the number of known organic compounds was increasing
rapidly year by year. During the 20th century, organic chemistry
branched into sub-disciplineds such as polymer chemistry,
pharmacology, bioengineering, petro-chemistry, and numerous others.
During that century, millions of new substances were discovered or
synthesized. Today, over 98% of all known compounds are organic.
Your study of organic chemistry begins at a time when the number of
organic compounds and the number of reactions they undergo is
nothing short of the classification system, naming rules, and some key
reactions that organic compounds undergo.

Matter and Carbon Compounds

If you look at your hand, what do you see? Of course, you see your
skin, which consists of cells. But what are skin cells made of? Like all
living cells, they are made of matter. In fact, all things are made of
matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Matter,
in turn, is made up of chemical substances. But how matter is
classified and what really are organic.

Ang Japan ay isang conformist

society kung saan
pinahahalagahan ang harmony,
mutual respect at group
consensus. Ang iba pang mga
pagpapahalaga gaya ng sama-
sama, kasipagan at pag-iwas sa
salungatan ay talagang mga
resulta ng pangangailangan
para sa pagkakasundo sa
lipunan. Ang relihiyong
Hapones ay mayroon ding
impluwensya sa karaniwang
mga halaga ng Hapon. Ang mga
halaga ng kadalisayan at
kalinisan ay nagmula sa
Shintoism samantalang perfecti
onism at minimalism ay mula sa
zen Buddhism. Bukod pa
rito, maaaring nakaapekto sa
kultura ang pagkalat ng mga
turo sa East Asia sa Japan.
Sinasabi na ang mga halaga ng
pangmatagalang pag-iisip,
tiyaga, paggalang sa
panlipunang hierarchy at
paggalang sa mga matatanda
ay nagmula sa Confucianism.
According to Article 20 of the
Japanese constitution, Japan
grants full religious freedom,
allowing minority religions such
as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism
and Sikhism to be practiced.
These religions account for
roughly 5-10% of Japan's
population. However, the
spiritual vacuum left by the
Emperor's renunciation was
also rapidly filled by a plethora
of new religions (shin shukyo)
which sprung up across Japan.

Mainly concentrated in urban

areas, these religions offered
this-worldly benefits such as
good health, wealth, and good
fortune. Many had charismatic,
Christ-like leaders who inspired
a fanatical devotion in their
followers. It is here that the
roots of such famous "cults" as
the "Aum cult of the divine
truth", who perpetrated the
Tokyo subway gas attack of
1995, can be found.

However, the vast majority of

new religions are focused on
peace and the attainment of
happiness, although many
Japanese who have no
involvement appear suspicious
of such organisations. Tax-
dodging or money-laundering
are, according to some, par for
the course.

Lucky charms
Luck, fate and superstition are
important to the Japanese.
Many people buy small charms
at temples or shrines, which are
then attached to handbags, key
chains, mobile phones or hung
in cars to bring good luck.
Different charms grant different
luck, such as exam success or
fertility.

Prayers are often written on

votive tablets: wooden boards
called ema that are hung in
their hundreds around temple
grounds. At famous temples
such as Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera,
you'll see votive tablets written
in a variety of languages.
Religion and the Emperor

Until World War Two, Japanese

religion focused around the
figure of the Emperor as a living
God. Subjects saw themselves
as part of a huge family of
which all Japanese people were
members.
The crushing war defeat
however, shattered many
people's beliefs, as the frail
voice of the Emperor was
broadcast to the nation
renouncing his deity. The
period since has seen a
secularisation of Japanese
society almost as dramatic as
the economic miracle which
saw Japan's post-war economy
go into overdrive.

What are the Major Japanese

Religions?

Since 1947, the Japanese

constitution has had no state-
sanctioned religion as it did
previously. In earlier years,
Japan had either Shintōism or
Buddhism as its national
religion. Japanese people are
now free to choose their
religious affiliations or lack
thereof.

As the vast majority of people

in Japan do not see Shintō or
Buddhism as religions, given
their focus on ways of life
rather than
on deities, 62% of Japanese
people have stated they have
no religious affiliation (2021).
However, according to the
Government of Japan, a small
number of people in Japan
follow Christianity (1.5%) or
another religion (6.2%), 69% of
people practice Shintōism, and
66.7% are Buddhist (many
people practice Shintō and
Buddhism).

Buddhism originated in India in

the sixth century BCE and
moved up through East Asia,
arriving in Japan in the sixth
century CE. Rooted in Indian
religious understandings of
rebirth, the historical Buddha
taught that there were ways to
release oneself from the cycle
of suffering through a new
understanding of reality and
oneself. After leaving India,
Buddhism developed into many
different forms: the dominant
form of Buddhism in Japan is
Zen Buddhism, which extends
from Mahāyāna Buddhism.
What is Shintoism?

Shintōism is a religion of Japan

and is indigenous. Shintōism
originated before recorded
Japanese history. It has been
shaped by various periods of
Japanese history and through
its interactions with Buddhism.
China brought Buddhism in the
6th century CE. Something
unique about Shintōism is that,
unlike many other religions, it
has no sacred texts nor fixed
beliefs. It's also quite
challenging to ''convert'' as it's
a feature embedded into
Japanese culture.
Shintō literally means the way
of the kami. Simply put,
Japanese kami are sacred
spirits embedded in particular
aspects of, among other things,
the environment. Belief in
the kami is not seen as a
religious belief in much of
Japanese society; the kami are
considered part of life. There is
also no inherent division
between humans and kami;
humans can become kami, and
many ka