Compounds of carbon are defined as chemical substances containing carbon. More compounds of carbon exist than any other chemical element except for hydrogen. Organic carbon compounds are more abundant than inorganic carbon compounds. In general bonds of carbon with other elements are covalent bonds. Carbon is tetravalent but carbon free radicals and carbenes occur as short-lived intermediates. Ions of carbon are carbocations and carbanions and are also short-lived. An important carbon property is catenation as the ability to form long carbon chains and rings.
Read more about Compounds Of Carbon: Allotropes of Carbon, Carbides, Organic Compounds, Inorganic Compounds, Carbon Halides, Carboranes, Its Use in Alloys
Famous quotes containing the word compounds:
“We can come up with a working definition of life, which is what we did for the Viking mission to Mars. We said we could think in terms of a large molecule made up of carbon compounds that can replicate, or make copies of itself, and metabolize food and energy. So that’s the thought: macrocolecule, metabolism, replication.”
—Cyril Ponnamperuma (b. 1923)