Origin and basic concepts of hybridization in organic chemistry with applications in the process of ruminal biohydrogenation

Abstract

The understanding of the structure of the carbon atom, enabled the birth of a powerful area of chemistry, which is the organic chemistry. But with that understanding, new questions arose. One of these was the quest to understand the relationship between the proposed atomic structure and the structure of a wide range of organic molecules in nature. This led to the thought that the electronic structure of the carbon atom has particularities, giving rise to the concept of hybridization. This short document presents basic notions of the concept of hybridization in organic chemistry and its potential use in other areas of knowledge, such as the understanding of the ruminal metabolism. Initially, a brief description of the evolution of the concept of the electronic structure of the carbon atom is made, to adopt the concept of hybridization of its atomic orbitals, in order to understand the bonds formed by it. Subsequently, a brief description of the three types of hybridization of the carbon atom (sp3, sp2, sp) will be made, as well as their implications in the geometry of organic molecules. Finally, these concepts will be extrapolated to the understanding of the process of ruminal biohydrogenation, a physiological mechanism that occurs in all ruminant animals. It is hoped, with this short document, to leave the message that concepts of organic chemistry can be clearly extrapolated to areas of applied sciences.