At the early beginnings, organic chemistry was taken by the scientific community as the chemistry of living matter.
After the discovery of the synthesis of urea by Wohler in
1828, organic chemistry was defined as the chemistry of
carbon-containing compounds.
Almost the entire amount of the carbon available on
the earth surface exists in the form of carbonic acid (free
or as calcium salts) and in fossil fuels obviously originated
from living matter. It is well known that carbon dioxide is
the necessary ingredient in the life cycle of animal and
plants. Therefore, organic chemistry must be considered as
strongly related to the chemistry of carbon dioxide and its
derivatives.