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The first line of the Wikipedia article on Organic Chemistry says:

"Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline of chemistry that studies the structure, properties and reactions of organic compounds, which contain carbon in covalent bonding."

This suggests that carbon compounds with no covalent bonds are excluded but what are these compounds? I am aware that other types of bonds may occur and be important but, even when they do, the compound still seems to be regarded as organic.

What is an example of a carbon compound excluded by the clause "which contain carbon in covalent bonding"?

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    $\begingroup$ All organic compounds contain at least one covalent bond coming from a Carbon atom.. Compounds like aluminium carbide $Al_4C_3$ are not organic compounds. $\endgroup$ – Maurice Apr 6 at 9:45
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    $\begingroup$ chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/43966/… $\endgroup$ – Nilay Ghosh Apr 6 at 9:53
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    $\begingroup$ Even if they include a covalent bond for example $\ce{CaC2, Mg2C3}$ they aren't organic compounds. These are carbides. $\endgroup$ – Zenix Apr 6 at 9:56
  • $\begingroup$ @NilayGhosh Yes, it seems that it does. I was aware of compounds such as $\ce{CaCO3}$ but it is only partially ionic. I had forgotten to check the carbides, e.g. $\ce{Al4C3}$, and did not realise that they were ionic. If I had remembered them then I would have struggled to guess. $\endgroup$ – badjohn Apr 6 at 9:59
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    $\begingroup$ See also: chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/22195/…? $\endgroup$ – Karsten Theis Apr 6 at 12:20

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