You organic compounds they are formed by chains of carbon atoms linked together or to other chemical elements. Currently, thousands of these compounds are known to exist. To give you an idea, in the year 1880, the number of known organic compounds was 12 000, and in 1990 this number was already 7 000 000.
These substances are very important in everyday life and can be used both to benefit and harm others. For example, what would we do without fuels, such as petroleum products (such as gasoline and oil? diesel), ethanol, biofuels, coal and natural gas? What would our society be like without polymers, synthetic and natural, such as plastics and rubber? How would we live without medication? Not to mention cosmetics, hygiene and cleaning products.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
On the other hand, there are also insecticides that are misused and destroy ecosystems; there are chemical weapons, poisons, drugs, etc. All have organic substances that can bring many harms.
To better understand how these substances are important to our lives and where they are present, we have this section that brought together several organic compounds. Here you can see various interesting aspects about them, such as their compositions, properties, sources of obtainment, industrial use, main applications, as well as the benefits and harms of its uses.
We hope you get a lot out of it!
By Jennifer Fogaça
Graduated in Chemistry
