Compounds of carbon are defined as chemical substances containing carbon.

[1][2]
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
It was once thought that organic compounds are or could only be created by living organisms.
Over time, however, scientists learned how to synthesize organic compounds. There are an
immense number of distinct compounds that contain carbon atoms. Some sources suggest
that there are about ten million known compounds.
[4]
However, it is possible that the number
is greater. Every organic compound contains at least one atom of carbon. The number of
organic compounds is immense and the known number of defined compounds is close to 10
million. However, an indefinitely larger number of such compounds are theoretically
possible. With carbon bonded to metals the field of organic chemistry crosses over into
organometallic chemistry.