- Compounds of carbon
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Scientists once thought that organic compounds are or could only be created by living organisms. Over time, human have learned how to synthesize organic compounds. There is an immense number of distinct compounds that contain carbon atoms. Some sources suggest that there are about ten million known compounds.[1] However, it is possible that the number is greater.
Contents
Organic compounds
Every organic compound contains at least one atom of carbon. The number of these compounds is immense and the described number of defined compounds is close to 10 million. However, an indefinitely larger number of such compounds are theoretically possible.
The distinction between organic and inorganic compounds is only a matter of convention, and there are several compounds that have been classified either way, such as: COCl2, CSCl2, CS(NH2)2, CO(NH2)2.Inorganic compounds
See also: Inorganic compounds by element#CarbonThere is a rich variety of carbon chemistry that does not fall within the realm of organic chemistry and is thus called inorganic carbon chemistry.
Compounds with other nonmetals
There are many oxides of carbon (oxocarbons), of which the most common are carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Other less known oxides include carbon suboxide (C3O2) and mellitic anhydride (C12O9). There are also numerous unstable or elusive oxides, such as dicarbon monoxide (C2O), oxalic anhydride (C2O4), and carbon trioxide (CO3).
Other compounds of carbon with nonmetals include:
- Carbon disulfide (CS2) and carbonyl sulfide (COS)
- Beta carbon nitride (β-C3N4),
- Carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), carbon tetrabromide (CBr4), carbon tetraiodide (CI4), and an endless list of other carbon-halogen compounds.
- Carbonyl fluoride (COF2)
- Carboranes such as H2C2B10H10.
Compounds with metals
Salts with oxocarbon anions
There are several oxocarbon anions, negative ions that consist solely of oxygen and carbon. The most common are the carbonate (CO32−) and oxalate (C2O42−). The corresponding acids are the highly unstable carbonic acid (H2CO3) and the quite stable oxalic acid (H2C2O4), respectively. These anions can be partially deprotonated to give the bicarbonate (HCO3−) and hydrogenoxalate (HC2O4−). Other more exotic carbon–oxygen anions exist, such as acetylenedicarboxylate (O2C–C≡C–CO22−), mellitate (C12O96−), squarate (C4O42−), and rhodizonate (C6O62−). The anhydrides of some of these acids are oxides of carbon; carbon dioxide, for instance, can be seen as the anhydride of carbonic acid.
Some important carbonates are Ag2CO3, BaCO3, CaCO3, CdCO3, edit] Carbonyls
Carbonyls are coordination complexes between transition metals and carbonyl ligands. Metal carbonyls are complexes that are formed with the neutral ligand CO. These complexes are covalent. Here is a list of some carbonyls: Cr(CO)6, Co2(CO)8, Fe(CO)5, Mn2(CO)10, Mo(CO)6, Ni(CO)4, W(CO)6.
Compounds containing the CN group
Other types of inorganic compounds include inorganic salts and complexes of the carbon-containing polyatomic ions cyanide, isocyanide, cyanate, thiocyanate.
NH4SCN, CaNCN, Co(SCN)2, CuCN, (HCNO)x NH2CN HCNO, (CN)2, BrCN, ClCN, HCN, KOCN, KCN, K3Fe(CN)6, K4Fe(CN)6, KSCN, Fe4(Fe(CN)6)3, AgCN, NaOCN, NaCN, Na3Fe(CN)5NO, NaSCN, (SCN)2,
Carbides
Carbides are binary compounds of carbon with an element that is less electronegative than it. The most important are Al4C3 B4C, CaC2, Fe3C, HfC, SiC, TaC, TiC, and WC.
Other
The known inorganic chemistry of the allotropes of carbon (diamond, graphite, and the fullerenes) blossomed with the discovery of buckminsterfullerene in 1985, as additional fullerenes and their various derivatives were discovered. One such class of derivatives is inclusion compounds, in which an ion is enclosed by the all-carbon shell of the fullerene. This inclusion is denoted by the "@" symbol. For example, an ion consisting of a lithium ion trapped within buckminsterfullerene would be denoted Li+@C60. As with any other ionic compound, this complex ion could in principle pair with a counterion to form a salt.
Alloys
There are several alloys that contain carbon of which the best known alloy is carbon steel (see category:steels)). Besides steel, other alloys based on iron and carbon are: anthracite iron, cast iron, pig iron, wrought iron, but also spiegeleisen (which contains also manganese). Stellite is an alloy of carbon with cobalt, chromium and tungsten. To some degree, these alloys could be considered carbides.
Formation of carbon compounds
In organic chemistry there are 3 important elements: Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen. Each of these elements have different kinds of bonds. Carbon atom has tetravalent bonds, Oxygen atoms divalent bonds and Hydrogen monovalent bonds.
See also
Notes
- ^ Chemistry Operations (December 15, 2003). "Carbon". Los Alamos National Laboratory. http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/6.html. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
References
- Organic Chemistry by Abraham William Simpson
CH He CLi CBe CB CC CN CO CF Ne CNa CMg CAl CSi CP CS CCl CAr CK CCa CSc CTi CV CCr CMn CFe CCo CNi CCu CZn CGa CGe CAs CSe CBr CKr CRb CSr CY CZr CNb CMo CTc CRu CRh CPd CAg CCd CIn CSn CSb CTe CI CXe CCs CBa CHf CTa CW CRe COs CIr CPt CAu CHg CTl CPb CBi CPo CAt Rn Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Cn Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo ↓ CLa CCe CPr CNd CPm CSm CEu CGd CTb CDy CHo CEr CTm CYb CLu Ac Th Pa CU Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr Chemical bonds to carbon Core organic chemistry Many uses in chemistry Academic research, but no widespread use Bond unknown / not assessed Oxocarbons Common oxides Exotic oxides Compounds derived from oxides Categories:
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