Re: does neon ever form compounds

Yes!

Neon does form compounds but they're all in an electronically excited state 
of Neon.  That is to say that the ground electronic state might be excited 
by a photon of light to a higher energy level.  In that level, Ne likes to 
bind to some molecules it normally doesn't bind to.  An example is a Helium-
Neon laser.  Although these are noble gases, in their excited states, they 
bind.  Their excited states are more stable than their ground states.  Many 
excimer lasers operate in this fashion since its easier to create a 
population inversion.