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Seminar by Prof. Richard Dronskowski on the crystal structure of carbonic acid
11 March @ 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm
Save the date! OCAMM presents a special seminar by Prof. Richard Dronskowski from RWTH Aachen, Germany on the always fascinating (and sometimes controversial!) topic of carbonic acid. This invited seminar will take place at the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, Aalto University on 11 March 2024 @ 14:15 in lecture hall A304 (Ke2) at the main building of the School of Chemical Engineering in the Otaniemi campus, Kemistintie 1, 02150 Espoo. The seminar is open to all. Please join us in Otaniemi to learn something new (or revisit your ideas) about carbonic acid!
Title
The Crystal Structure of Carbonic Acid – A Stroll between Molecular Chemistry, Theory, High Pressure, Neutron Diffraction, and Chemical Bonding
Abstract
Ubiquitous carbonic acid, H2CO3, a key molecule in biochemistry, geochemistry, and also extraterrestrial chemistry, is known, at least in principle, from various physicochemical studies but is often considered, even up to the present day, a somewhat mysterious “non-existing” molecule. In fact, the molecule has never been directly seen, the reason being that high pressure is needed to stabilize it, as easily shown by electronic-structure theory. After an eight-years research study, the crystal structure of carbonic acid was determined from neutron-diffraction data on a deuterated sample in a specially built hybrid clamped cell using “Russian alloy”. At 1.85 GPa, D2CO3 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with a = 5.392(2), b = 6.661(4), c = 5.690(1) Å, β = 92.66(3)°, Z = 4, with one symmetry-inequivalent anti-anti shaped D2CO3 molecule forming dimers, as previously predicted. Quantum chemistry evidences π bonding within the CO3 molecular core, very strong hydrogen bonding between the molecules, and a massive influence of the crystal field on all bonds; phonon calculations emphasize the locality of the vibrations, being rather insensitive to the extended structure. Now that carbonic acid has been firmly established, this may be important for other fields, for example CO2 “sequestration” and its the chemical consequences. Likewise, carbonic acid probably plays a role in our solar system, say, on outer gas planets such as Uranus or Neptune and, also, on the Jupiter moon Europa. Finally, many chemistry textbooks must be rewritten because the simplest molecule consisting of water and carbon dioxide actually exists.
See also: “The Crystal Structure of Carbonic Acid”. S. Benz, D. Chen, A. Möller, M. Hofmann, D. Schnieders, and R. Dronskowski. Inorganics 10, 132 (2022).
About the speaker
Richard Dronskowski studied chemistry and physics at the University of Münster in the early 1980s. After having received his diplomas in 1987 and 1989, he got his Ph.D. in 1990 from the Technical University of Stuttgart and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research with the thesis “Condensed Clusters in Oxides and Arsenides of Molybdenum”. Five years later, he received both habilitation and venia legendi from the University of Dortmund.
In his professional career he worked as a visiting scientist at Cornell University and the Max Planck Institute at Stuttgart. Since 1997 he has been with RWTH Aachen University where he holds the Chair of Solid-State and Quantum Chemistry. He is also engaged at the Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials in Shenzhen, China.