What are the simplest organic compounds?
carbohydrates
proteins
enzymes
hydrocarbons
Summary Covalent inorganic compounds are named by a procedure similar to that used for ionic compounds, using prefixes to indicate the numbers of atoms in the molecular formula. The simplest organic compounds are the hydrocarbons, which containonly carbon and hydrogen. Alkanes contain only carbon–hydrogen and carbon–carbon single bonds, alkenes contain at least one carbon–carbon double bond, and alkynes contain one or more carbon–carbon triple bonds. Hydrocarbons can also be cyclic, with the.