Headline news:
Carbonic acid, the hydrated form of carbon dioxide, so ubiquitous on Earth but yet to be observed in aqueous solution, can be accessed with transient infrared spectroscopy.

Link to original paper

One sentence summary:
The intrinsic formation dynamics of carbonic acid from ultrafast protonation of bicarbonate in aqueous solution is measured with femtosecond infrared spectroscopy, resulting in the determination of the real acidity constant, that will be of much use in research areas ranging from biophysiology, biogeochemistry, ocean ecology and carbon dioxide sequestration.

Pressemitteilung
Bildung von Kohlensäure in Echtzeit verfolgt

Press Release
Real time generation and observation of carbonic acid

Ultrafast protonation of bicarbonate using UV-photoexcited naphthol photoacid generates carbonic acid, H₂CO₃, in aqueous solution as followed by infrared-active marker modes

Communiqué de Presse
Formation et observation de l’acide carbonique en temps réel

Persbericht
Koolzuur molecule in water gedetecteerd

Photos

Ehud Pines, Dina Pines, Mirabelle Prémont-Schwarz, Katrin Admaczyk and Erik T. J. Nibbering having a break after discussing the carbonic acid results in march 2009.

More details on page of subproject 2

Carbonic acid captured
Article by Simon Hadlington

Fünf Minuten Chemie
Kohlensäure gibt es praktisch nicht
Article by Wolfgang W. Merkel

External funding by:


German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development: GIF I-876-107.5.