Sodium percarbonate or sodium carbonate peroxide is an

inorganic compound An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds⁠that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''. Inorgan ...

with the formula . It is an

adduct In chemistry, an adduct (; alternatively, a contraction of "addition product") is a product of a direct addition of two or more distinct molecules, resulting in a single reaction product containing all atoms of all components. The resultant is ...

sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water ...

("soda ash" or "washing soda") and

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

(that is, a perhydrate). It is a colorless, crystalline,

hygroscopic Hygroscopy is the phenomenon of attracting and holding water molecules via either absorption (chemistry), absorption or adsorption from the surrounding Natural environment, environment, which is usually at normal or room temperature. If water mol ...

, and water-soluble solid. It is sometimes abbreviated as SPC. It contains 32.5% by weight of hydrogen peroxide. The product is used in some

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

es and other cleaning products.

History

Sodium percarbonate was first prepared in 1899 by Ukrainian chemist Sebastian Moiseevich Tanatar (7 October 1849 – 30 November 1917).

Structure

At room temperature, solid sodium percarbonate has the

orthorhombic In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Orthorhombic Lattice (group), lattices result from stretching a cubic crystal system, cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, res ...

crystal structure In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat ...

, with the ''Cmca'' crystallographic

space group In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of a repeating pattern in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of the pattern that ...

. The structure changes to ''Pbca'' as the crystals are cooled below about −30 °C.

Chemistry

Dissolved in water, sodium percarbonate yields a mixture of hydrogen peroxide,

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

cation An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

s (), and

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...

(). :

Production

Sodium percarbonate is produced industrially by crystallization of a solution of sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide, with attention to the pH and concentrations.J. M. Adams and R. G. Pritchard (1977): "The Crystal Structure of Sodium Percarbonate: an Unusual Layered Solid". ''Acta Crystallographica Section B'', volume B33, issue 12, pages 3650–3653. Alun P. James, Graham R. Horne, Richard Roesler, and others (1997):
Process for producing sodium percarbonate
. US Patent US6231828B1, priority date 1997-03-26. This method is also convenient for the laboratory preparation. Alternatively, dry sodium carbonate may be treated directly with concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution.Sang Ryul Kim, Chong Yun Kwag, Hwan Kee Heo, Jong-Pill Lee (1996):
Process for manufacturing granular sodium percarbonate
. US Patent US5851420A, priority date 1996-02-29 World production capacity of this compound was estimated at several hundred thousand tons for 2004.

Uses

As an

oxidizing agent An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electron donor''). In ot ...

, sodium percarbonate is an ingredient in a number of home and laundry cleaning products, including non-chlorine

products such as Oxyper, OxiClean, Tide laundry detergent, and Vanish."", The

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

, and

Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, currently branded as Reckitt, formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition prod ...

(the manufacturers of Vanish). Many commercial products mix a percentage of sodium percarbonate with sodium carbonate. The average "Oxy" product in the supermarket contains 35–40% sodium percarbonate with about 5% active oxygen when titrated. Sodium percarbonate is also used as a cleaning agent in

homebrewing Homebrewing is the brewing of beer or other alcoholic beverages on a small scale for personal, non-commercial purposes. Supplies, such as kits and fermentation tanks, can be purchased locally at specialty stores or online. Beer was brewed dom ...

. Sodium percarbonate can be used in

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a branch of chemical synthesis concerned with the construction of organic compounds. Organic compounds are molecules consisting of combinations of covalently-linked hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. Within the gen ...

as a convenient source of anhydrous H₂O₂, in particular in solvents that cannot dissolve the carbonate but can leach the H₂O₂ out of it. A method for generating trifluoroperacetic acid ''in situ'' for use in

Baeyer–Villiger oxidation The Baeyer–Villiger oxidation is an organic reaction that forms an ester from a ketone or a lactone from a cyclic ketone, using peroxyacids or peroxides as the oxidant. The reaction is named after Adolf von Baeyer and Victor Villiger who first ...

s from sodium percarbonate and trifluoroacetic anhydride has been reported; it provides a convenient and cheap approach to this reagent without the need to obtain highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide.

References

External links

Organic Chemistry Portal: Sodium percarbonate

Consumer Product Information Database: Sodium percarbonate
{{sodium compounds Sodium compounds Hydrogen peroxide Carbonates Cleaning product components Antiseptics Bleaches Oxidizing agents