What makes carbon such an "attractive" element? Discuss its bonding abilities and different structures it can

Question

What makes carbon such an "attractive" element? Discuss its bonding abilities and different structures it can

Answer 1

it can have 4 bonds

Answer 2

Carbon can form 4 covalent bonds (or a double bond and 2 singles, or a triple and one single), and often bonds with itself, leading to basically infinite combinations of different molecules. In addition, it can form bonds with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. making the combinations even more diverse.

Examples:

-long carbon chains, like those found in fatty acids CH3-(CH2)-n-CH3 (where n is the number of carbons in the middle of the chain)

-carbon rings, usually 5 or 6 carbons, found in sugars, cholesterol, steroids, DNA. These often have an N or an O as one spot of the ring, but not always