INFRARED SPECTRA OF BICARBONATE IONS FORMED IN SOLID ALKALI HALIDES BY OXYANION OXIDATION

When heated, pressed disks of several alkali halides react with substances such as potassium permanganate in the presence of water and carbon dioxide to yield bicarbonate ions occupying anion sites in the host alkali halides. This method has been used to disperse the bicarbonate ion in nine alkali halides for use in studies of the effect of environment on vibrational spectra. In favorable cases, infrared spectra have been obtained virtually free of interfering absorption due to such substances as potassium carbonate, and as a consequence erroneous vibrational assignments made by earlier investigators have been corrected. The ease of formation of carbonaceous species has been related to properties of the host alkali halides, and it is shown that the carbon and hydrogen in the carbonaceous species come mostly from atmospheric water and carbon dioxide. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.