Summary
Organic chemistry explores the structure, properties and reactivity of carbon-based molecules. Owing to carbon’s ability to form strong C–C and C–H bonds, these compounds range from small hydrocarbons to complex natural products, polymers and pharmaceuticals. Key methodologies include transition-metal catalysis (cross-coupling, C–H activation), organocatalysis, photoredox and electrochemical techniques, biocatalysis and green-chemistry protocols that emphasise atom and pot economy, renewable feedstocks and environmentally benign solvents. Breakthroughs in computational design, flow chemistry and high-throughput screening are accelerating the assembly of ever more intricate molecular architectures. Organic chemistry underpins drug discovery, agrochemical innovation, materials science and sustainable manufacturing, and its global impact spans energy storage, environmental remediation and the synthesis of functional molecules for health, agriculture and advanced technologies.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent developments in electrochemical halogen-atom transfer have enabled the generation of alkyl radicals directly from unactivated alkyl iodides under mild, electricity-driven conditions. By employing α-aminoalkyl mediators, this strategy obviates external oxidants and sacrificial electrodes, providing broad functional-group tolerance in subsequent bond-forming processes. In another advance, a pot-economical total synthesis of (–)-quinine has been realised in five sequential one-pot operations. A cinchona-derived small-molecule catalyst orchestrates sequential Michael, Henry and hemiaminal-formation steps to assemble a chiral tetrahydropyridine core in high enantiopurity, and further one-pot cascades complete the piperidine framework without intermediate isolations, exemplifying how organocatalysis can drive multibond, stereocontrolled sequences with minimal waste.
Topic trend for the past 5 years
The graph below shows the article count in Nature Index journals for organic chemistry.
* The ‘Current Index’ represents data for a 12-month rolling window, the current window is 1 May 2025 - 30 April 2026.
Technical terms
Electrochemical halogen-atom transfer (e-XAT): An electricity-driven process in which anodically generated radicals abstract halogen atoms from alkyl halides to form alkyl radicals under mild conditions.
Photoredox catalysis: Use of visible-light-activated catalysts to mediate single-electron transfers, generating radical intermediates for bond construction under mild, energy-efficient conditions.
Organocatalysis: Catalysis by small organic molecules that activate substrates through non-metallic modes, often enabling enantioselective transformations without transition metals.
Pot economy: A synthetic strategy wherein multiple bond-forming steps are executed sequentially in one reaction vessel, minimising workup, purification and resource consumption.
RAFT polymerisation: A controlled radical polymerisation technique using thiocarbonylthio chain-transfer agents to mediate reversible addition–fragmentation, enabling precise molar-mass and architecture control.
Notable articles in organic chemistry
- Engaging unactivated alkyl, alkenyl and aryl iodides in visible-light-mediated free radical reactions. Nature Chemistry (2012).
- Photoreforming of Nonrecyclable Plastic Waste over a Carbon Nitride/Nickel Phosphide Catalyst. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2019).
- A computational framework to explore large-scale biosynthetic diversity. Nature Chemical Biology (2019).
- Synthetic applications of eosin Y in photoredox catalysis. Chemical Communications (2014).
- Asymmetric catalysis activated by visible light. Chemical Communications (2015).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Research
Position of Organic Chemistry in Nature Index by Count
Leading institutions
| Institution | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) | 561 | 170.21 |
| Sichuan University (SCU) | 121 | 92.15 |
| Nankai University (NKU) | 145 | 72.55 |
| University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) | 241 | 71.76 |
| Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) | 121 | 70.84 |
| Nanjing University (NJU) | 141 | 60.14 |
| University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) | 107 | 56.64 |
| Lanzhou University (LZU) | 86 | 52.56 |
| Dalian University of Technology (DUT) | 67 | 50.95 |
| Zhejiang University (ZJU) | 107 | 48.18 |
Leading countries/territories
| Countries/territories | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| China | 3172 | 2986.7 |
| United States of America (USA) | 949 | 770.27 |
| India | 459 | 426.98 |
| Japan | 424 | 367.55 |
| Germany | 491 | 340.55 |
| United Kingdom (UK) | 267 | 172.18 |
| South Korea | 140 | 118.84 |
| France | 181 | 109.65 |
| Spain | 152 | 93.5 |
| Switzerland | 121 | 87.6 |
Collaboration
Top 5 leading collaborators in Organic Chemistry
Collaborating institutions
Note: Hover over the bars to view details about each institution's Share.
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