Carbon with 4 unpaired electrons can hold 4 different things at once.
Or it can hold a long lipid chain or enzyme at one of the corners. Or a co2. The beauty is if something gets used up off of the carbon, the carbon will quickly rebined to another element or polyatomic molecule. That’s why it can strip CO2 out of the air, or remediate methane emissions as your compost breaks down from the microbes. Or a cows backend. It’s kind of mind-boggling to think about. Also, the most common way that elements or nutrients get moved out of the carbon bond, is through microbes. Microbes make all the magic happen between the plant roots and the nutrients sinks such as biochar. I can’t preach enough how much I like biochar. I think it is one of the most under utilized and overlooked aspects of all gardening. Cannabis or corn.