Tricarbonate

In organic chemistry, a tricarbonate is a compound containing the divalent \sO\sC(\dO)\sO\sC(\dO)\sO\sC(\dO)\sO\s functional group, which consists of three carbonate groups linked in a chain by sharing of oxygen atoms. These compounds can be viewed as derivatives of a hypothetical tricarbonic acid, HO\sC(\dO)\sO\sC(\dO)\sO\sC(\dO)\sOH. An important example is di-tert-butyl tricarbonate (H3C\s)3C\sC3O7\sC(\sCH3)3, an intermediate in the synthesis of di-tert-butyl dicarbonate.

The term tricarbonate is sometimes used for salts that contain three carbonate dianions in their covalent structure or stoichiometric formula, such as cerium tricarbonate Ce2(CO3)3.