Dicarbonate

In organic chemistry, a dicarbonate, also known as a pyrocarbonate, is a compound containing the divalent or −C2O5− 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 organic chemistry, a dicarbonate, also known as a pyrocarbonate, is a compound containing the divalent or −C2O5− 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. 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. The term 'dicarbonate' is sometimes used erroneously to refer to bicarbonate, the common name of the hydrogencarbonate anion HCO−3 or organic group the ROCO2H.