Inorganic compounds are of inanimate, not biological origin.
Inorganic compounds lack
carbon and
hydrogen atoms and are synthesized by the agency of
geological systems. In contrast, the synthesis of
organic compounds in
biological systems incorporates
carbohydrates into the molecular structure. Organic chemists traditionally refer to any molecule containing carbon as an organic compound and by default this means that inorganic chemistry deals with molecules lacking carbon.
However, biologists may distinguish organic from inorganic compounds in a different way that does not hinge on the presence of a carbon atom. Pools of organic matter, for example, that have been metabolically incorporated into living tissues persist in
decomposing tissues, but as molecules become
oxidized into the open environment, such as atmospheric CO2, this creates a separate pool of inorganic compounds. The distinction between inorganic and organic compounds is not always clear when dealing with
open and closed systems, because everything is ultimately connected to everything else on the planet. Some scientists, for example, view the open environment as an extension of life and from this perspective may consider atmospheric CO2 as an organic compound. IUPAC, an agency widely recognized for defining chemical terms, does not offer definitions of inorganic or organic. Hence, the definition for an inorganic versus an organic compound in a
multidisciplinary context spans the division between
living and non-living matter and remains open to debate according to the way that one views the world.
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