What is "dicarbonate"

n. (context chemistry English) Any compound containing two carbonate groups per molecule

In organic chemistry, a dicarbonate, also known as a pyrocarbonate, is a compound containing the divalent [−O−(C=O)−O−(C=O)−O−] or −− functional group, which consists of two carbonate groups sharing an oxygen atom. These compounds can be viewed as double esters of a hypothetical dicarbonic acid, or HO−(C=O)−O−(C=O)−OH. Two important examples are dimethyl dicarbonate HC−CO−CH and di-tert-butyl dicarbonate (HC−)C−CO−C(−CH).

It is one of the oxocarbon anions, consisting solely of oxygen and carbon. 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, the common name of the hydrogencarbonate anion HCO or organic group the ROCOH.