Are biological macromolecules organic or inorganic compounds?

We know that organic compounds are compounds which contain carbon atoms. I want to know whether all biological macromolecules (such as proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids) are organic compounds, or are only a subset of them considered organic?




The definition of "[organic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_compound)" is somewhat vague: it can mean *containing carbon*, or it can mean *coming from living things*, particularly as [defined by the United States Department of Agriculture](http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml). 


To further confuse the issue, some carbon compounds, such as sodium carbonate or tungsten carbide, are sometimes defined as inorganic.


So state a particular definition, and examine those compounds according to that definition.


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There is a field of chemistry referred to as [bioinorganic chemistry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioinorganic_chemistry). 


While all the biological macromolecules are organic, if a metal-ion-containing protein ([metalloprotein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalloprotein)) is being studied, especially if the focus is upon the metal ion, such as oxidation or reduction of the metal ion, the term "bioinorganic" is often used. 


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There are a number of different definitions of *organic compounds* existing, from the oldest (*anything that comes from living beings (and is assumed to have been created by a* vis vitalis)) to a few contemporary ones. So the definition of *organic compound* is rather fuzzy, with edge cases such as trifluoroacetic acid sometimes belonging to the organic realm and sometimes not.


However, I am not aware of any definition of *organic compound* that would exclude the biomacromolecules and deem them ‘inorganic’. So unless your definition of *organic* is extremely exotic, they are included. (And I cannot imagine an exotic definition of *organic compound* that would not include lipids, anyway.)


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