Question

Carbonate ion is a composite radical

Answer 1

Answer:

The reaction of ONOO- with CO2 at alkaline pH was recently reported to form a transient absorption with a maximum at 640 nm and a half-life of ca. 4 ms at 10 °C [Meli et al. (1999) Helv. Chim. Acta82, 722−725]. This transient absorption was hardly affected by the presence of •NO, and therefore was attributed to the adduct ONOOC(O)O-. This conclusion contradicts all current experimental results as it suggests that the decomposition of this adduct via homolysis of the O−O bond into CO3•- and •NO2 is a minor pathway. In the present work the observations