Thermolysis of NH 4 HCO 3 —A Simple Route to the Formation of Free Carbonic Acid (H 2 CO 3 ) in the Gas Phase
“Carbonic acid cannot exist in the free state. ” Now, a surprisingly simple experiment has shown that this statement is wrong. Thermolysis of NH 4 HCO 3 affords, among other products, H 2 CO 3 , which is stable as both the neutral molecule and the radical cation. This finding also confirms the resul...
| Published in: | Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1987
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.198703541 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fanie.198703541 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/anie.198703541 |
| Summary: | “Carbonic acid cannot exist in the free state. ” Now, a surprisingly simple experiment has shown that this statement is wrong. Thermolysis of NH 4 HCO 3 affords, among other products, H 2 CO 3 , which is stable as both the neutral molecule and the radical cation. This finding also confirms the results of detailed ab initio and semiempirical calculations, which show that H 2 CO 3 should be stable in the gas phase because the activation energy for its decomposition is large. |
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