Dicarbonate

In organic chemistry, a dicarbonate is a compound containing the divalent [-O-(C=O)-O-(C=O)-O-] or C₂O₅^2• functional group, which consists of two carbonate groups sharing an oxygen atom. These compounds can be viewed as double esters of a hypothetical dicarbonic acid, H₂C₂O₅ or HO-(C=O)-O-(C=O)-OH. Two important examples are dimethyl dicarbonate H₃C-C₂O₅-CH₃ and di-tert-butyl dicarbonate (H₃C-)₃C-C₂O₅-C(-CH₃)₃.

In inorganic chemistry, dicarbonate is the divalent anion C₂O2−
5 or [O-(C=O)-O-(C=O)-O]²⁻, or any salt containing the same. It is one of the oxocarbon anions, consisting solely of oxygen and carbon. Dicarbonate salts are apparently unstable but may have a fleeting existence in carbonate solutions.^[1]>

The term "dicarbonate" is sometimes used erroneously to refer to bicarbonate, the common name of the hydrogencarbonate anion [HCO₃]⁻ or organic group [HCO₃-].

See also

• Oxalate
• Peroxodicarbonate
• Tricarbonate

References

1. ^ Zeller, Klaus-Peter; Schuler, Paul; Haiss, Peter (2005). "The hidden equilibrium in aqueous sodium carbonate solutions: Evidence for the formation of the dicarbonate anion". Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2005 (1): 168–172. doi:10.1002/ejic.200400445.