The traditional view of dust in the interstellar medium is that it is made of graphite and silicates. In this paper, we discuss the evidence for complex organics being a major component of interstellar dust. Comparison between astronomical infrared spectra and laboratory spectra of amorphous carbonaceous materials suggests that organics of mixed aromatic-aliphatic structures are widely present in circumstellar, interstellar, and galactic environments. Scenarios for the synthesis of these compounds in the late stages of stellar evolution are presented.

Athough planetary nebulae (PNe) have been discovered for over 200 years, it was not until 30 years ago that we arrived at a basic understanding of their origin and evolution. Even today, with observations covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio to X-ray, there are still many unanswered questions on their structure and morphology. In this review, we summarize recent theoretical and observational advances in PNe research, and discuss the roles of PNe in the chemical (atomic, molecular, and solid-state) enrichment of the galaxy and as tracers of the large scale structure of the Universe.