An organometallic compound is an organic compound in which a metal atom is attached directly to a carbon, with the exclusion of metallic salts of organic acids. Organometallic compounds have been prepared using practically all the metals. The first known organometallic compound was diethylzinc Zn(C₂H₅)₂. Other examples include Grignard compounds such as methyl magnesium iodide CH₃MgI; metallic alkyls such as butyllithium C₄H9Li, tetraethyl lead Pb(C₂H₅)₄, triethyl aluminum (C₂H ₅)₃Al, tetrabutyl titanate Ti(OC₄H₉)₄, sodium methylate CH₃ONa, copper pththalocyanine C₃₂H₁₆N₈Cu; and metallocenes. Some organometallic compoun ds are highly toxic or flammable; others are coordination compounds (i.e., compounds formed between a metal ion and a nonmetallic ion or molecule, with the nonmetallic component referred to as a complexing agent). Many organometallic compounds are powerful catalysts.

The carbon-metal bonds in organometallic range in nature from essentially ionic...