Talk:Inorganic compound

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Somehow this page was upside down - it defined Inorganic compounds as though they were organic (carbon containing)

Checking the history I see that it was me that wrote the original. Must have mentally slid between talking organic and inorganic compounds.

[edit] C-H bond definition for organics

Is this a hard & fast rule? I can believe that ALL compounds with a C-H bond are organic, but I do not believe that ALL compounds WITHOUT a C-H bond are inorganic. For example, oxalic acid, even uric acid would be under this definition be inorganic! I subscribe to the view given in the inorganic chemistry page that organics are defined as "based on carbon", but the division between the two fields is not absolute. I'd like to get others' views before I edit this page further. Walkerma 00:50, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

Agreed: we'll find ourselves in a vortex of "definisionisms" if we try to get too absolute about the boundaries of fields. Fullerenes are another gray area. And the organometallic chemists like to include the metal carbonyls. And on and on. The gray areas are not that overwhelming that they skew the articles. --Smokefoot 19:39, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree as well. Typically the way I was taught was that roughly the deviding line falls along the lines that Organic compounds are compounds based upon carbon, usually containing H, O, N, sometimes S, and the various halides. Whereas inorganic and organometallic chemistry typically focuses on the other atoms especially the metal atoms. --PedroDaGr8 16:49, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Secondly it says "Compositions of matter can be divided.." I think this is horribly worded. It would be better worded as "Chemical compounds can roughly be divided into to major categories." Otherwise it seems as if we are dealing with a more physical system. --PedroDaGr8 16:51, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

The distinction between organic and inorganic is only an historical artifact and there is no hard and fast rule (but certainly requiring C-H bonds for organic compounds is nonsense!) I've updated the article accordingly. The best definition of "inorganic carbon-containing compound" that I have found is "carbon compounds that were considered inorganic before Wohler's time, because they could be obtained from 'inorganic' (e.g., mineral) sources". Of course, one has to be flexible and extrapolate in some cases. Fullerenes are considered inorganic because they an elemental substance (although not really a compound). Derivatives of fullerenes are a gray area. --Itub 08:55, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Switched inorganic/organic in the "Inorganic Carbon Compounds" section

The first sentence of this section says: "Many compounds that contain carbon are considered organic; for example, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbonates ..." Shouldn't that be "inorganic"? Dcbrc2 (talk) 14:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)