Silver carbonate is the
chemical compound with the
formula Ag
2CO
3. This poorly soluble solid is yellow but typical samples are grayish due to the presence of elemental
silver. It is poorly soluble in water, like most
transition metal carbonates. Silver carbonate is used as a
reagent in
organic synthesis such as the
Koenigs-Knorr reaction. It is also employed to convert
alkyl bromides into
alcohols.
Preparation
Silver carbonate can be easily prepared by combining aqueous solutions of
sodium carbonate and
silver nitrate.
It is also used to prepare Silver chloride using the following the reaction: Ag
2CO
3 + 2HCl --> 2 AgCl + H
2O + CO
2.
References