Carbon of interconnecting carbon–carbon bonds, a property that is called catenation. Carbon-carbon bonds are strong and stable. Through catenation, carbon forms a countless number of compounds. A tally of unique compounds shows that more contain carbon that those that do not. A similar claim can be made for hydrogen because most organic compounds also contain hydrogen. The simplest form of an organic molecule is the hydrocarbon—a large family of organic molecules that are composed of hydrogen atoms bonded to a chain of carbon atoms. A hydrocarbon backbone can be substituted by other atoms, known as heteroatoms. Common heteroatoms that appear in
Hydrogen astatide Hydrogen astatide Hydrogen astatide, also known as astatine hydride, astatane, or astidohydrogen, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula , consisting of an astatine atom covalently bonded to a hydrogen atom. It thus is a hydrogen halide. This chemical compound can dissolve in water to form hydroastatic acid, which exhibits properties very similar to the other four binary acids, and is in fact the strongest among them. However, it is limited in use due to its ready decomposition into elemental hydrogen and astatine, as well as the short half-life of the various isotopes of astatine. Because the atoms have