<P> Fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, carbon compounds with spheroidal and tubular structures, have stimulated much research into the related field of materials science . The first fullerene was discovered in 1985 by Sir Harold W. Kroto of the United Kingdom and by Richard E. Smalley and Robert F. Curl, Jr., of the United States . Using a laser to vaporize graphite rods in an atmosphere of helium gas, these chemists and their assistants obtained cagelike molecules composed of 60 carbon atoms (C60) joined together by single and double bonds to form a hollow sphere with 12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal faces--a design that resembles a football, or soccer ball . In 1996 the trio was awarded the Nobel Prize for their pioneering efforts . The C60 molecule was named buckminsterfullerene (or, more simply, the buckyball) after the American architect R. Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic dome is constructed on the same structural principles . </P> <P> Organic compounds containing bonds of carbon to nitrogen, oxygen and the halogens are not normally grouped separately . Others are sometimes put into major groups within organic chemistry and discussed under titles such as organosulfur chemistry, organometallic chemistry, organophosphorus chemistry and organosilicon chemistry . </P> <P> Organic reactions are chemical reactions involving organic compounds . Many of these reactions are associated with functional groups . The general theory of these reactions involves careful analysis of such properties as the electron affinity of key atoms, bond strengths and steric hindrance . These factors can determine the relative stability of short - lived reactive intermediates, which usually directly determine the path of the reaction . </P> <P> The basic reaction types are: addition reactions, elimination reactions, substitution reactions, pericyclic reactions, rearrangement reactions and redox reactions . An example of a common reaction is a substitution reaction written as: </P>

Historical survey of the development and importance of organic chemistry