Chemical Compounds - Oxides of carbon. Carbon forms two well-known oxides, carbon monoxide , CO, and carbon dioxide , CO 2 . In addition, it also forms carbon suboxide, C 3 O 2 . This mixture of CO and H 2 is called water gas and is used as an industrial fuel. It is also useful as a metallurgical reducing agent because at high temperatures it reduces many metal oxides to the elemental metal.
Carbon monoxide is an extremely dangerous poison.
Because it is an odourless and tasteless gas, it gives no warning of its presence. It binds to the hemoglobin in blood to form a compound that is so stable that it cannot be broken down by body processes. Suffocation can occur if sufficient amounts of carbon monoxide are present to form complexes with the hemoglobin. Carbon dioxide is produced when any form of carbon or almost any carbon compound is burned in an excess of oxygen. Many metal carbonates liberate CO 2 when they are heated.