Q.Give the formula of a compound in which carbon exhibit an oxidation state of -4

Group 14, the carbon family (C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb), shares the general outer configuration ns2np2. It spans all three traditional element classes: carbon is a genuine nonmetal, silicon and germanium are brittle, lustrous metalloids, and tin and lead are corrosion-resistant, moderately reactive metals. The group oxidation state is +4 (CH4, CCl4, SiCl4), but a lower +2 state (or -4) becomes increasingly stable down the group via the inert-pair effect, so that lead strongly favours +2 (PbCl2 more stable than PbCl4) while germanium still favours +4 (GeCl4 more stable than GeCl2). Carbon alone forms strong pi bonds and shows by far the greatest tendency to catenate (self-link into chains), because its small, compact 2p orbitals overlap far more effectively than the larger, more diff …