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Subfield · Chemistry

Organic Chemistry research

Organic Chemistry is a subfield of Chemistry. Science Explorer counts 1.5M research works in it since 1950. 15.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives.

Research works
1.5M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
232k
per year above
Top-10% rate
15.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
61
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
-14%
the tick is no change

What is Organic Chemistry research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Synthesis, Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Synthesis, Heterocycles, Transition Metal Catalysis, Catalysis. Gaining share since 2009–13: Catalytic Reduction, Nitro Compounds, Nanocomposites, Green Synthesis, Transition Metal Complexes. Losing share: Organometallic Chemistry, Polymerization, C-C Bond Formation, Enantioselective Synthesis.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Synthesis34k▼ 0.82×16 topics
  2. Medicinal Chemistry32k◆ 1.08×7 topics
  3. Organic Synthesis29k◆ 1.05×10 topics
  4. Heterocycles25k◆ 0.89×9 topics
  5. Transition Metal Catalysis24k◆ 0.98×4 topics
  6. Catalysis23k▼ 0.85×8 topics
  7. Heterocyclic Compounds23k◆ 1.01×6 topics
  8. Chemoselective22k▲ 1.17×4 topics
  9. Anticancer Agents21k◆ 1.08×5 topics
  10. Hydrogenation19k▲ 1.69×2 topics
  11. Drug Discovery18k◆ 1.02×4 topics
  12. Green Chemistry18k▼ 0.77×6 topics
  13. Nanocomposites18k▲ 2.7×2 topics
  14. Enantioselective Synthesis18k▼ 0.70×7 topics
  15. Metal-Catalyzed Reactions17k▲ 1.17×3 topics
  16. Green Synthesis16k▲ 2.7×2 topics
  17. Biological Evaluation16k▼ 0.85×6 topics
  18. Catalytic Reduction15k▲ 2.8×1 topic
  19. Nitro Compounds15k▲ 2.8×1 topic
  20. Self-Assembly15k◆ 0.95×3 topics
  21. Click Chemistry14k◆ 1.10×3 topics
  22. Organometallic Chemistry14k▼ 0.67×5 topics
  23. Oxidative Coupling13k▲ 1.51×2 topics
  24. Asymmetric Synthesis13k▼ 0.72×5 topics
  25. Carbon–Carbon Bond Formation12k▲ 1.62×1 topic
  26. C–H Activation12k▲ 1.62×1 topic
  27. Tubulin Inhibitors12k▲ 1.26×1 topic
  28. Vascular Targeting Agents12k▲ 1.26×1 topic
  29. Anticancer12k◆ 0.96×3 topics
  30. Polymerization12k▼ 0.69×3 topics
  31. C-C Bond Formation12k▼ 0.69×3 topics
  32. Aryl Halides11k▲ 1.18×2 topics
  33. Micelles11k◆ 0.88×2 topics
  34. Oxidation11k▼ 0.78×2 topics
  35. Phenolic Compounds10k▲ 1.40×3 topics
  36. Biological Activity9,896▼ 0.80×7 topics
  37. Catalytic9,210◆ 0.97×2 topics
  38. Vesicles9,077◆ 1.10×2 topics
  39. Transition Metal Complexes8,987▲ 1.76×2 topics
  40. Antimicrobial8,774◆ 0.90×3 topics

Which countries lead Organic Chemistry research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Organic Chemistry. By volume, China and India publish the most (46k and 22k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 21.0% top 10% · 46k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 19.3% top 10% · 13k works
  3. 3 India · #7 all time 13.7% top 10% · 22k works
  4. 4 Germany · #3 all time 16.8% top 10% · 5.8k works
  5. 5 United Kingdom · #5 all time 20.2% top 10% · 3.1k works
  6. 6 Saudi Arabia · #19 all time 24.6% top 10% · 2.6k works
  7. 7 Spain · #8 all time 16.2% top 10% · 3k works
  8. 8 Japan · #4 all time 9.1% top 10% · 6.6k works
  9. 9 Egypt · #29 all time 25.3% top 10% · 3k works
  10. 10 Italy · #11 all time 16.9% top 10% · 2.7k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 65 countries ranked in Organic Chemistry. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Organic Chemistry

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 46k works
  2. 2 India 22k works
  3. 3 United States 13k works
  4. 4 Russia 7.2k works
  5. 5 Japan 6.6k works
  6. 6 Germany 5.8k works
  7. 7 Iran 4.4k works
  8. 8 France 4.2k works
  9. 9 Türkiye 3.1k works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 3.1k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 40.0%India: 19.1%United States: 11.2%Russia: 6.2%6 others listed: 23.5%40%largest
China46k · 40.0%India22k · 19.1%United States13k · 11.2%Russia7,163 · 6.2%6 others listed27k · 23.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Organic Chemistry research?

Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) ranks first in Organic Chemistry on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Münster and Nankai University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #2 all time 25.1% top 10% · 1.1k works
  2. 2 University of Münster Germany · Münster · #4 all time 35.3% top 10% · 241 works
  3. 3 Nankai University China · Tianjin · #44 all time 32.2% top 10% · 640 works
  4. 4 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #58 all time 26.2% top 10% · 685 works
  5. 5 Henan Normal University China · Xinxiang 34.4% top 10% · 507 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry China · Shanghai · #9 all time 31.2% top 10% · 479 works
  7. 7 Southern University of Science and Technology China · Shenzhen · #84 all time 33.6% top 10% · 345 works
  8. 8 Sichuan University China · Chengdu · #42 all time 24.1% top 10% · 770 works
  9. 9 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou · #29 all time 24.3% top 10% · 454 works
  10. 10 Princeton University United States · Princeton · #13 all time 49.3% top 10% · 108 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 615 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Organic Chemistry.

Top 100 Organic Chemistry institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 1.1k works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique France 771 works
  3. 3 Sichuan University China 770 works
  4. 4 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences China 685 works
  5. 5 Nankai University China 640 works
  6. 6 Zhengzhou University China 570 works
  7. 7 Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research India 548 works
  8. 8 N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry Russia 528 works
  9. 9 Henan Normal University China 507 works
  10. 10 East China University of Science and Technology China 505 works

Who are the leading researchers in Organic Chemistry?

Among the most productive authors in Organic Chemistry, John A. Pople, K. Barry Sharpless and Michael J. S. Dewar rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 John A. Pople United States · #77 worldwide 11k citations · 142 works
  2. 2 K. Barry Sharpless United States · #863 worldwide 3.3k citations · 145 works
  3. 3 Michael J. S. Dewar United States · #993 worldwide 4.3k citations · 217 works
  4. 4 Corwin Hansch United States · #1,127 worldwide 2.9k citations · 94 works
  5. 5 David W. C. MacMillan United States · #1,296 worldwide 3.5k citations · 98 works
  6. 6 George M. Whitesides United States · #1,739 worldwide 4.8k citations · 265 works
  7. 7 Warren J. Hehre United States · #1,992 worldwide 3.2k citations · 77 works
  8. 8 Christopher N. Bowman United States · #2,300 worldwide 1.9k citations · 103 works
  9. 9 Judith A. K. Howard United Kingdom · #2,575 worldwide 5.5k citations · 294 works
  10. 10 Carlos F. Barbas United States · #3,186 worldwide 1.9k citations · 90 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,839 highest-output authors in Organic Chemistry. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Organic Chemistry researchers

Where is Organic Chemistry research done?

The largest centres of Organic Chemistry research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Moscow (Russia) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Karīmnagar, Mülheim and Kadi.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 6k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 3.5k works
  3. 3 Moscow Russia 2.5k works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 2.3k works
  5. 5 Hangzhou China 2k works
  6. 6 Guangzhou China 1.9k works
  7. 7 Tokyo Japan 1.7k works
  8. 8 Chengdu China 1.6k works
  9. 9 Tianjin China 1.6k works
  10. 10 Wuhan China 1.5k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KarīmnagarIN · 20.2 works25×
  2. MülheimDE · 167.7 works21×
  3. KadiIN · 23.7 works20×
  4. PittsboroUS · 20.9 works19×
  5. FulbournGB · 24.5 works18×
  6. Gansu20.0 works16×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Organic Chemistry than the world average.

See Organic Chemistry on the map

Organic Chemistry research by country

The best places for Organic Chemistry research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Organic Chemistry?

Among universities, judged by research, Henan Normal University, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research and Southern University of Science and Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.34%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Henan Normal University: 507, 34.4%Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research: 548, 10.3%Southern University of Science and Technology: 345, 33.6%Nankai University: 640, 32.2%Jiangxi Normal University: 207, 25.2%ShanghaiTech University: 137, 34.0%Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal: 142, 20.3%Wuyi University: 88, 16.1%Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata: 185, 20.6%Mahatma Gandhi University: 106, 16.7%Henan Normal Univers…Southern University …Nankai UniversityAcademy of Scientifi…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Henan Normal University China 65.534.4%16.3×507 +29.2%
2Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research India 61.510.3%11.3×548 +484.5%
3Southern University of Science and Technology China 59.233.6%4.2×345 +876.2%
4Nankai University China 53.932.2%6.2×640 -14.3%
5Jiangxi Normal University China 52.825.2%9.1×207 +65.9%
6ShanghaiTech University China 52.834.0%4.8×137 +4117.5%
7Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal India 52.720.3%11.8×142 +117.8%
8Wuyi University China 52.016.1%14.4×88 +549.2%
9Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata India 51.820.6%16.7×185 +61.1%
10Mahatma Gandhi University India 51.616.7%9.3×106 +196.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Organic Chemistry research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 14% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2014. The fastest-growing topics are Nanomaterials for catalytic reactions, Catalytic C–H Functionalization Methods and Radical Photochemical Reactions.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Nanomaterials for catalytic reactions+266%
  2. Catalytic C–H Functionalization Methods+153%
  3. Radical Photochemical Reactions+123%
  4. Click Chemistry and Applications+65%
  5. Synthesis and Catalytic Reactions+57%
  6. Sulfur-Based Synthesis Techniques+46%
  7. Asymmetric Synthesis and Catalysis-31%
  8. Organometallic Complex Synthesis and Catalysis-37%
  9. Chemical Thermodynamics and Molecular Structure-45%
  10. Synthesis and Reactions of Organic Compounds-50%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Organic Chemistry include?

Synthetic Organic Chemistry Methods: 62k fractional worksSynthesis and biological activity: 58k fractional worksOrganometallic Complex Synthesis and Catalysis: 56k fractional worksCarbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis: 56k fractional worksAsymmetric Synthesis and Catalysis: 54k fractional worksChemical Synthesis and R…53kChemical Synthesis and Reactions: 53k fractional worksSynthesis and Biological Evaluation: 50k fractional worksCatalytic C–H Functionalization Methods: 50k fractional worksChemical Thermodynamics …46kChemical Thermodynamics and Molecular Structure: 46k fractional worksNanomaterials for catalytic reactions: 45k fractional worksSynthesis and Characterization of Heterocyclic Compounds: 45k fractional worksSurfactants and Colloida…45kSurfactants and Colloidal Systems: 45k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.