Inorganic compound
An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bondsTemplate:Px2—Template:Px2that is, a compound that is not an organic compound.[1][2] The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as inorganic chemistry.
Inorganic compounds comprise most of the Earth's crust, although the compositions of the deep mantle remain active areas of investigation.[3]
All allotropes of carbon and some simple carbon compounds are often considered inorganic. Examples include the allotropes of carbon (graphite, diamond, buckminsterfullerene, graphene, etc.), carbon monoxide Page Module:Chem2/styles.css has no content.CO, carbon dioxide Page Module:Chem2/styles.css has no content.CO2, carbides, and salts of inorganic anions such as carbonates, cyanides, cyanates, thiocyanates, isothiocyanates, etc. Many of these are normal parts of mostly organic systems, including organisms; describing a chemical as inorganic does not necessarily mean that it cannot occur within living things.
History
Friedrich Wöhler's conversion of ammonium cyanate into urea in 1828 is often cited as the starting point of modern organic chemistry.[4][5][6] In Wöhler's era, there was widespread belief that organic compounds were characterized by a vital spirit. In the absence of vitalism, the distinction between inorganic and organic chemistry is merely semantic.[citation needed]
Modern usage
- The Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) in its definition of "inorganic" carbon compounds, states that such compounds may contain either C-H or C-C bonds, but not both.[7]
- The book series Inorganic Syntheses does not define inorganic compounds. The majority of its content deals with metal complexes of organic ligands.[8]
- IUPAC does not offer a definition of "inorganic" or "inorganic compound" but does define inorganic polymer as "...skeletal structure that does not include carbon atoms."[9]
See also
- Inorganic compounds by element
- List of inorganic compounds
- List of named inorganic compounds
- Mineral acid
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Berzelius, Jöns Jacob (1827). Lehrbuch der Chemie (1st ed.). Dresden and Leipzig: Arnoldischen Buchhandlung. ISBN 1-148-99953-1.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) Brief commentary can be found in Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jorgensen, Bent Soren (1965). "More on Berzelius and the vital force". Journal of Chemical Education. 42 (7): 394. Bibcode:1965JChEd..42..394J. doi:10.1021/ed042p394. - ^ Dan Berger, Bluffton College, analysis of varying inappropriate definitions of the inorganic-organic distinction: Otherwise consistent linked material differing from current article in downplaying the carbon present vs carbon absent distinctive: [1]
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Newman, D. K.; Banfield, J. F. (2002). "Geomicrobiology: How Molecular-Scale Interactions Underpin Biogeochemical Systems". Science. 296 (5570): 1071–1077. Bibcode:2002Sci...296.1071N. doi:10.1126/science.1010716. PMID 12004119. S2CID 1235688.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.May, Paul. "Urea". Molecules in Motion. Imperial College London. Archived from the original on 2015-03-17.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cohen, Paul S.; Cohen, Stephen M. (1996). "Wöhler's Synthesis of Urea: How do the Textbooks Report It?". Journal of Chemical Education. 73 (9): 883. doi:10.1021/ed073p883.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ramberg, Peter J. (2000). "The Death of Vitalism and the Birth of Organic Chemistry: Wohler's Urea Synthesis and the Disciplinary Identity of Organic Chemistry". Ambix. 47 (3): 170–195. doi:10.1179/amb.2000.47.3.170. PMID 11640223. S2CID 44613876.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Inorganic Crystal Structure Database" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Volumes - Inorganic Syntheses". www.inorgsynth.org.
- ^ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. (the "Gold Book") (2025). Online version: (2006–) "inorganic polymer". Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers".
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