Detection of Elements in Organic Compounds

Before an organic compound's structure can be worked out, the very first analytical step is simply finding out WHICH elements it contains -- this is qualitative elemental analysis, distinct from (and always performed before) the quantitative estimation covered later in the chapter. Nearly every organic compound is built primarily from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; beyond that core trio, a compound may additionally contain nitrogen, sulphur, one or more halogens, phosphorus, or, in th …