In
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clay ...
, a tricarbonate is a compound containing the
divalent
In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules.
Description
The combining capacity, or affinity of a ...
��O–(C=O)–O–(C=O)–O–(C=O)–O–functional group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is a substituent or moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions regardless of the res ...
, which consists of three
carbonate
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), 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 carbonat ...
groups in tandem, sharing two
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...
atoms. These compounds can be viewed as double
ester
In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ...
s of a hypothetical tricarbonic acid, HO–(C=O)–O–(C=O)–O–(C=O)–OH. An important example is
di-''tert''-butyl tricarbonate (H
3C–)
3C–C
3O
7–C(–CH
3)
3, a
chemical reagent
In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...
(colorless prisms that melt at 62–63 °C with decomposition, soluble in
pentane
Pentane is an organic compound with the formula C5H12—that is, an alkane with five carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of three structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, pentane means exclusively the ' ...
).
[Barry M. Pope, Yutaka Yamamoto, and D. Stanley Tarbell (1977)]
"Di-''tert''-Butyl Dicarbonate"
''Organic Syntheses'', Vol. 57, p.45; Coll. Vol. 6 (1988) p.418
The term "tricarbonate" is sometimes used for salts that contain three carbonate anions in their
stoichiometric formula, such as
cerium tricarbonate Ce
2(CO
3)
3.
See also
*
Dicarbonate
References
Esters
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