Silver carbonate is the

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

with the

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

Ag₂CO₃. This salt is yellow but typical samples are grayish due to the presence of elemental

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

. It is poorly soluble in water, like most

transition metal In chemistry, a transition metal (or transition element) is a chemical element in the d-block of the periodic table (groups 3 to 12), though the elements of group 12 (and less often group 3) are sometimes excluded. They are the elements that can ...

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...

Preparation and reactions

Silver carbonate can be prepared by combining aqueous solutions of

sodium carbonate Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...

with a deficiency of

silver nitrate Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula . It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called ''lunar caustic' ...

. :2 AgNO3(aq) + Na2CO3(aq) -> Ag2CO3(s) + 2 NaNO3(aq) Freshly prepared silver carbonate is colourless, but the solid quickly turns yellow. Silver carbonate reacts with ammonia to give the diamminesilver(I) ( g(NH₃)₂sup>+)

complex ion A coordination complex consists of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ''ligands'' or complexing agents. Many ...

. Like other diamminesilver(I) solutions, including

Tollen's reagent Tollens' reagent (chemical formula Ag(NH3)2OH) is a chemical reagent used to distinguish between aldehydes and ketones along with some alpha-hydroxy ketones which can tautomerize into aldehydes. The reagent consists of a solution of silver n ...

, there is a possibility that explosive

Silver nitride Silver nitride is an explosive chemical compound with symbol Ag3N. It is a black, metallic-looking solid which is formed when silver oxide or silver nitrate, is dissolved in concentrated solutions of ammonia, causing formation of the diammine silve ...

may precipitate out of the solution. Silver nitride was previously known as fulminating silver but due to confusions with

silver fulminate Silver fulminate (AgCNO) is the highly explosive silver salt of fulminic acid. Silver fulminate is a primary explosive, but has limited use as such due to its extreme sensitivity to impact, heat, pressure, and electricity. The compound becomes pr ...

it has been discontinued by the

IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

. With

hydrofluoric acid Hydrofluoric acid is a Solution (chemistry), solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. Solutions of HF are colourless, acidic and highly Corrosive substance, corrosive. It is used to make most fluorine-containing compounds; examples include th ...

, it gives

silver fluoride Silver fluoride can refer to: * Silver subfluoride (disilver monofluoride), Ag2F * Silver(I) fluoride (silver monofluoride, argentous fluoride), AgF * Silver(II) fluoride (silver difluoride, argentic fluoride), AgF2 * Silver(III) fluoride (silve ...

. The thermal conversion of silver carbonate to silver metal proceeds via formation of silver oxide: :Ag2CO3 -> Ag2O + CO2 :2 Ag2O ->4 Ag + O2

Uses

The principal use of silver carbonate is for the production of silver powder for use in microelectronics. It is reduced with

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...

, producing silver free of alkali metals:Andreas Brumby et al. "Silver, Silver Compounds, and Silver Alloys" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2008. :Ag2CO3 + CH2O -> 2 Ag + 2 CO2 + H2O Silver carbonate is used as a

reagent In chemistry, a reagent ( ) or analytical reagent is a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, or test if one occurs. The terms ''reactant'' and ''reagent'' are often used interchangeably, but reactant specifies a ...

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...

such as the Koenigs-Knorr reaction. In the

Fétizon oxidation Fétizon oxidation is the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols utilizing the compound silver(I) carbonate absorbed onto the surface of celite also known as Fétizon's reagent first employed by Marcel Fétizon in 1968. It is a mild reagent, ...

, silver carbonate on

celite Diatomaceous earth (), diatomite (), or kieselgur/kieselguhr is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from more than 3 μm to les ...

serves as an

oxidising agent An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxi ...

to form

lactone Lactones are cyclic carboxylic esters, containing a 1-oxacycloalkan-2-one structure (), or analogues having unsaturation or heteroatoms replacing one or more carbon atoms of the ring. Lactones are formed by intramolecular esterification of the co ...

s from

diols A diol is a chemical compound containing two hydroxyl groups ( groups). An aliphatic diol is also called a glycol. This pairing of functional groups is pervasive, and many subcategories have been identified. The most common industrial diol is e ...

. It is also employed to convert

alkyl In organic chemistry, an alkyl group is an alkane missing one hydrogen. The term ''alkyl'' is intentionally unspecific to include many possible substitutions. An acyclic alkyl has the general formula of . A cycloalkyl is derived from a cycloalk ...

bromides into

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

s. As a base, it has been used in the

Wittig reaction The Wittig reaction or Wittig olefination is a chemical reaction of an aldehyde or ketone with a triphenyl phosphonium ylide called a Wittig reagent. Wittig reactions are most commonly used to convert aldehydes and ketones to alkenes. Most o ...

. and in C-H bond activation. J. Org. Chem., 2018, 83 (16), pp 9312–9321 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.8b01284.

References

External links

{{Silver compounds Silver compounds Carbonates