Thermolysis of NH 4 HCO 3 —A Simple Route to the Formation of Free Carbonic Acid (H 2 CO 3 ) in the Gas Phase

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English
• Main Authors: Terlouw, Johan K., Lebrilla, Carlito B., Schwarz, Helmut
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1987
• Subjects: Carbonic acid
• 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

“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.