Definition and Uses of Natural Products and Organic Chemistry
What is a natural product chemistry and why should we be interested in studying it? The broadest definition of a natural product is anything that is produced by life, including biotic materials (e. g. wood, silk), biotic materials (e. g. bioplastics, corn starch), body fluids (e. g. milk, plant exudates) and other natural materials that were once found in living organisms (e. g. soil, coal). A more restrictive definition of a natural product is any organic compound that is synthesized by a living organism. The science of organic chemistry, in fact, originated in the study of natural products and has given rise to the fields of synthetic organic chemistry where scientists create organic molecules in the laboratory and semi-synthetic organic chemistry where scientists modify existing natural products to improve or modify their activities.
Natural products have a high structural diversity and unique pharmacological or biological activities due to natural selection and evolutionary processes that have shaped their usefulness over hundreds of thousands of years. In fact, the structural diversity of natural products far exceeds the capabilities of synthetic organic chemists within the laboratory. Thus, natural products have been used in traditional and modern medicine to treat diseases. Currently, natural products are often used as a starting point for drug discovery, followed by synthetic modifications to help reduce side effects and increase bioavailability. In fact, natural products are responsible for about half of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition to drugs, natural products and their derivatives are commonly used as food additives in the form of spices and herbs, antibacterial agents and antioxidants to protect the freshness and longevity of foods. In fact, natural organic products are found in almost every aspect of our lives, from the clothes on our backs, to plastic and rubber products, to health and beauty products, to the energy we use to run our cars.
Natural products can be classified according to their biological function, biosynthetic pathway or source.
