Sedimentary organic matter contains varying abundances of different metals, inherited from precursor biomass or secondarily incorporated into the carbonaceous matrix. The diagnosticity of this organometal fingerprint, the effect that diagenetically-complexed metals have on organic preservation and the C-cycle, catalytic influence on subsequent rearrangement/conversion, or the role of metal bearing organics in ore formation are still insufficiently understood. We focus on the fundamentals of organic metal incorporation aim to better understanding the role of metals on various levels in the global carbon cycle.