Tellurous acid 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
In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...
H
2TeO
3. It is the
oxoacid
An oxyacid, oxoacid, or ternary acid is an acid that contains oxygen. Specifically, it is a compound that contains hydrogen, oxygen, and at least one other element, with at least one hydrogen atom bonded to oxygen that can dissociate to produce ...
of tellurium(IV). This compound is not well characterized. An alternative way of writing its formula is (HO)
2TeO. In principle, tellurous acid would form by treatment of
tellurium dioxide with water, that is by hydrolysis. The related conjugate base is well known in the form of several salts such as potassium hydrogen tellurite, KHTeO
3.
Properties
In contrast to the analogous compound
selenous acid, tellurous acid is only metastable. Most tellurite salts contain the ion. Oxidation of its aqueous solution with hydrogen peroxide gives the
tellurate
In chemistry, tellurate is a compound containing an oxyanion of tellurium where tellurium has an oxidation number of +6. In the naming of inorganic compounds it is a suffix that indicates a polyatomic ion, polyatomic anion with a central telluri ...
ion. It is usually prepared as an aqueous solution where it acts as a weak acid.
[ ]
:H
2TeO
3 + H
2O H
3O
+ + ''K''
a1 =
: + H
2O H
3O
+ + ''K''
a2 =
References
Tellurites
Chalcogen oxoacids
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