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Concept
Carbonic acid
Summary
In chemistry, carbonic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula . The molecule rapidly converts to water and carbon dioxide in the presence of water. However, in the absence of water, it is (contrary to popular belief) quite stable at room temperature. The interconversion of carbon dioxide and carbonic acid is related to the breathing cycle of animals and the acidification of natural waters.
In biochemistry and physiology, the name "carbonic acid" is sometimes incorrectly applied to aqueous solutions of carbon dioxide. These chemical species play an important role in the bicarbonate buffer system, used to maintain acid–base homeostasis.
In chemistry, the term "carbonic acid" strictly refers to the chemical compound with the formula H2CO3. Some biochemistry literature effaces the distinction between carbonic acid and carbon dioxide dissolved in extracellular fluid.
In physiology, carbon dioxide excreted by the lungs may be called volatile acid or respiratory acid.
At ambient temperatures, pure carbonic acid is a stable gas. There are two main methods to produce anhydrous carbonic acid: reaction of hydrogen chloride and potassium bicarbonate at 100 K in methanol and proton irradiation of pure solid carbon dioxide. Chemically, it behaves as a diprotic Brønsted acid.
Carbonic acid monomers exhibit three conformational isomers: cis–cis, cis–trans, and trans–trans.
At low temperatures and atmospheric pressure, solid carbonic acid is amorphous and lacks Bragg peaks in X-ray diffraction. But at high pressure, carbonic acid crystallizes, and modern analytical spectroscopy can measure its geometry.
According to neutron diffraction of dideuterated carbonic acid (D2CO3) in a hybrid clamped cell (Russian alloy/copper-beryllium) at 1.85 GPa, the molecules are planar and form dimers joined by pairs of hydrogen bonds. All three C-O bonds are nearly equidistant at 1.34 Å, intermediate between typical C-O and C=O distances (respectively 1.43 and 1.23 Å).
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