Areas of specialization

Organic chemistry is the largest area of specialization among the various fields of chemistry. It derives its name from the fact that in the 19th century most of the carbon compounds then known were considered to have originated in living organisms. When combined with variable amounts of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, or other elements, the structural possibilities of carbon compounds become limitless. Indeed, their number far exceeds the total of all nonorganic compounds.Britannica QuizIns and Outs of Chemistry

The development of structural organic chemistry was one of the great achievements of 19th-century science, providing an essential basis for the field of biochemistry. The elucidation of the chemical transformations undergone by organic compounds within living cells was a central problem of biochemistry. The determination of the molecular structure of the organic substances present in living cells was necessary to the study of cellular mechanisms. Physical organic chemistry focuses on the correlation of the physical and chemical properties of organic compounds with their structural features.