Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Why do chemists synthesize organic compounds in laboratories?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
chemical element
The geochemical cycle.
Chemists synthesize organic compounds in laboratories for three primary reasons:
- Industrial Demand: Many compounds are synthesized to meet the need for commercial products, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, fibres, dyestuffs, and agricultural chemicals like herbicides and insecticides. In some cases, it is more efficient to synthesize these substances than to collect and purify them from natural sources.12
- Structural Confirmation: Scientists often synthesize naturally occurring compounds to confirm their assigned molecular structures. By creating a compound through an unambiguous method and comparing it to the natural product, chemists can verify that the proposed structure is correct.13
- Scientific Discovery and Theory Testing: Synthesis is used to create novel molecules that do not exist in nature. By examining the properties of these unique compounds, chemists can test theories regarding chemical structure, reactivity, and orbital symmetry, which helps advance the fundamental understanding of chemistry.13