In organic chemistry

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...

, a dicarbonate is a compound containing the divalent

Valence (chemistry)

In chemistry, valence, also known as valency or valence number, is a measure of the number of bonds formed by an atom of a given element. "Valence" can be defined as the number of valence bonds...

 [-O-(C=O)-O-(C=O)-O-] or ^2• functional group

Functional group

In organic chemistry, functional groups are specific groups of atoms within molecules that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reaction regardless of the size of the molecule it is a part of...

, which consists of two carbonate

Carbonate

In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, . The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group C2....

 groups sharing an oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 atom. These compounds can be viewed as double ester

Ester

Esters are chemical compounds derived by reacting an oxoacid with a hydroxyl compound such as an alcohol or phenol. Esters are usually derived from an inorganic acid or organic acid in which at least one -OH group is replaced by an -O-alkyl group, and most commonly from carboxylic acids and...

s of a hypothetical dicarbonic acid, or HO-(C=O)-O-(C=O)-OH. Two important examples are dimethyl dicarbonate

Dimethyl dicarbonate

Dimethyl dicarbonate or DMDC is a colourless liquid with a sharp odour. Its primary use is as a beverage preservative and or processing aid or sterilant , and acts by inhibiting the enzymes acetate kinase and L-glutamic acid decarboxylase...

 H₃C-C₂O₅-CH₃ and di-tert-butyl dicarbonate

Di-tert-butyl dicarbonate

Di-tert-butyl dicarbonate is a reagent widely used in organic synthesis. This carbonate ester reacts with amines to give N-tert-butoxycarbonyl or so-called t-BOC derivatives. These derivatives do not behave as amines, which allows certain subsequent transformations to occur that would have...

 (H₃C-)₃C-C₂O₅-C(-CH₃)₃.
In inorganic chemistry

Inorganic chemistry

Inorganic chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds. This field covers all chemical compounds except the myriad organic compounds , which are the subjects of organic chemistry...

, dicarbonate is the divalent anion  or [O-(C=O)-O-(C=O)-O]²⁻, or any salt containing the same. It is one of the oxocarbon anion

Oxocarbon anion

In chemistry, an oxocarbon anion is a negative ion consisting solely of carbon and oxygen atoms, and therefore having the general formula CxOyn− for some integers x, y, and n....

s, consisting solely of oxygen and carbon

Carbon

Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

. 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

Bicarbonate

In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid...

, the common name of the hydrogencarbonate anion [HCO₃]⁻ or organic group [HCO₃-].