Copper(II) Carbonate

Copper(II) Carbonate is an inorganic salt with the formula CuCO 3. At room temperature copper(II) carbonate reacts readily with water to form basic copper carbonate. This along with the difficulty of synthesis makes encountering copper(II) carbonate rare.

The names "cupric carbonate" and "copper carbonate" typically, even in academic texts, refers to basic copper(II) carbonate.

Synthesis
Copper(II) carbonate was first created by Hartmut Ehrhardt et al. in 1973 by heating basic copper(II) Carbonate to 500 °C under a two gigapascal (20,000 atm) carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Reactions
The stability of copper(II) carbonate has been found to be heavily effected by the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in which it is stored. If the partial pressure of carbon dioxide is less than 0.11 atm even at dry conditions, carbon(II) carbonate will decompose into copper(II) oxide and carbon dioxide.

Copper(II) carbonate can be stored in moist air if the partial pressure of carbon dioxide is high; however, if the partial pressure is not high enough, the copper(II) carbonate will react with water in the air to form basic copper(II) carbonate and carbon dioxide.

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