Organic synthesis

Synthesis means the process of creating new chemical entities like atoms, molecules, etc. This process is crucial as through this process we get various molecules and compounds. Coming on to the word organic on the other hand means living or natural. Together organic synthesis is the art or we can say the science of replicating the molecules that are living in nature. 

Organic synthesis is a subdiscipline of synthesis. In this sector, substances are constructed which generally contain carbon content and are natural.

Total synthesis

The process of formation of a complete organic compound from natural sources or petrochemical entities is known as total synthesis. There are two approaches to total synthesis; linear approach and convergent approach. 

In a linear approach, a lot of steps are performed until the final product is formed. In this approach, every step is altogether different reactions and the compounds formed in every stage are known as synthetic intermediates. These steps are performed continuously and are for simple structures

The second approach is the convergent approach that is followed for complex molecules wherein the intermediates are formed separately and later they are combined to form the final product. The convergent approach has an upper hand over the linear since it has a higher yield.

Robert Burns Woodward is regarded as the father of organic synthesis.

Methodology 

In this process, each step is a separate chemical reaction in it and as a chemical reaction to take place we need certain conditions and reagents that too in a certain proportion to get a desired pure product within a few steps. The strategy is simple: we need to make the product with certain starting products given within a few steps.

Role 

Organic synthesis is a multidisciplinary subject that has its importance in a vast variety of fields like chemistry, physics, molecular biology, material sciences and many more.

Principle

The main agenda of organic synthesis is designing routes to molecules. Elaborating further means designing a route for a target molecule for which we use a process called retrosynthetic analysis. By this process, we come to know the starting material needed.

Synthetic strategy

The simplest of this strategy would be the one in which in a single reaction we reach the target molecule however this is rare to happen. Often to synthesize the desired molecule various processes like adding, removing if carbon chain, functional groups has to be done 

Retrosynthetic Analysis

It is simply a backward approach in which based on the target molecule the path to the initial product is traced. As the first step of the process is the analysis of the target molecule its carbon chain, functional groups and after that analyzing what probable products can help in formations of the given product this is known as retrosynthetic analysis 

Urea the first organic compound synthesized

It was in the year 1773 when a French chemist named Hilaire-Marin Rouelle first isolated urea in a lab. 

A German chemist named Friedrich Wöhler was the one who produced the first organic compound urea in a laboratory. It was the first organic synthesis in a laboratory and the name of the product is urea. The experiment was done in the year 1828 and the major starting product for production was ammonium cyanate. Urea is now produced from liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide on a commercial scale.

In 1828 Friedrich Wöhler synthesized Urea from ammonium cyanate and potassium cyanate. Urea was considered organic since it was present in urine moreover it was the major by-product post degradation of Protein. This experiment proved the belief that organic compounds can be synthesized from organic or living organisms as wrong.

Urea is also known as carbamide. It has a formula of CO( NH2)2. These are some of the properties of urea –:

• It is colorless
• It is odorless
• Non-toxic
• Non-Inflammable
• Soluble In water 
• It has a density of 1.32 g/cm3
• It is a white solid 

Further, it has uses in various sectors like agriculture, medicine, labs, resin and the automobile sector. 

Malonic ester synthesis

Malonic ester synthesis is a type of coupling reaction wherein alkylation of ester malonic acid takes and further, it is converted to acetic acid.

Mechanism

The alpha carbon of ester of malonic acid is deprotonated with the help of a strong base; further post nucleophilic substitution reaction an alkylated compound is found. On heating thermal decarboxylation happens that produces an acetic acid substitute of the appropriate R group. The ester and the base chosen are generally the same.

Synthetic organic chemistry importance 

This sector has helped in the production of vitamins, polymers, plastics and diagnostics. Thus it helped in various fields be it biology or medicine.

Synthetic organic chemistry

It is a sector of science that works on creating chemical compounds from simple ones.

Synthesis is a process of creating the starting material into desired material called the target.

Conclusion 

Organic synthesis is an essential sector in today’s time when the world is suffocating due Coronavirus now this sector finds its use. Drug Design is a field of organic synthesis. Hence we can conclude that investing in this will be an asset due to its multisectoral approach.