Structural theory

In chemistry, structural theory explains the large variety in chemical compounds in terms of atoms making up molecules, the order in which atoms are put together in molecules and the electrons that hold them together. According to structural theory from a structural formula of a molecule alone it is possible to derive all physical and spectroscopic data and predict chemical reactivity.

Development of structural theory was initiated by Aleksandr Mikhailovich Butlerov to whom is attributed the following quote


 * …the chemical nature of a compound molecule depends on the nature and quantity of its elementary constituents and its chemical structure.