inorganic compound

Any chemical compound that is not an organic compound. Inorganic compounds include: all compounds that do not contain any carbon atoms; and also a small number of simple carbon compounds that don't have any of the functional groups typical of organic chemistry. Thus, carbon dioxide (CO2), all carbonates, carbon sulphide, cyanides, and carbides count as inorganic compounds.

However, simple carbon compounds that can be seen as the smallest member of a family of compounds sharing a functional group (for example methanol as the simplest alcohol) are treated as organic compounds.