There are two major sources of organic compounds:
(I) Natural and
(II) Synthetic.
I) Natural
a).Plants- Carbohydrates (glucose, sucrose, starch,
cellulose), acids, esters, vegetable oils, vitamins, gums,
alkaloids, essential oils, perfumes, alcohol, acetone, etc. are
some of the important organic compounds which are obtained
from plants.
b).Animals- Some of the important organic
compounds which are derived from 'animals; are proteins,
hormones, fats and urea,
c).Fungi and microorganisms-This is the ·source responsible for the· production of hosts of useful substances
like alcohols, acids, antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin,
tetracycline) 'and" vitamins by using the process of
fermentation.
c). Coal - Coal-tar obtained during destructive
distillation of coal is the main source of aromatic hydrocarbons,
phenols, heterocyclic compounds, dyes drugs; perfumes, etc.
d). Natural gas and petroleum - It is one of the major
sources of organic compounds Gasoline, kerosene,
lubricating oil, Vaseline, paraffin wax, etc., ate few examples
which are obtained directly from petroleum by fractional distillation. Hundreds of useful organic compounds are
prepared from the wide range of hydrocarbons which serve as
starting materials for the synthetic reactions.
II). Synthetic Sources- More than 90% of the known organic compounds are
synthetic, i.e., prepared by artificial methods. Simple organic
·compounds derived from petroleum and coal have been
converted into useful products by synthetic methods.
Now-days, many of the natural products such as dyes, fibres,
rubber, drugs, vitamins, etc., are prepared by synthetic reactions.