Journal of Physical Chemistry & Biophysics
Open Access

Physical Organic Chemistry

Physical organic chemistry, a term coined by Louis Hammett in 1940, refers to a discipline of organic chemistry that focuses on the relationship between chemical structures and reactivity, in particular, applying experimental tools of physical chemistry to the study of organic molecules. It is mainly centered on two main components: Kinetics and thermodynamics. Physical organic chemistry is the study of the relationship between structure and reactivity of organic molecules. More specifically, physical organic chemistry applies the experimental tools of physical chemistry to the study of the structure of organic molecules and provides a theoretical framework that interprets how structure influences both mechanisms and rates of organic reactions. The physical-organic approach is most useful when sets of structurally related compounds are available through synthesis or isolation. A branch of science concerned with the scope and limitations of the various rules, effects, and generalizations in use in organic chemistry by means of physical and mathematical methods.  It includes, but is not limited to, the dynamics and energetics of organic chemical transformations, transient intermediates in these reactions, rate comparisons between families of reactions, dynamic stereochemistry, conservation of orbital symmetry, the least-motion principle, the isomer number for a given elemental composition, conformational analysis, nonexistent compounds, aromaticity, tautomerism, strain and steric hindrance, and the double-bond rule.