In organic chemistry, a tricarbonate is a compound containing the divalent functional group, which consists of three carbonate groups linked in a chain by sharing of oxygen atoms. These compounds can be viewed as derivatives of a hypothetical tricarbonic acid, . An important example is di-tert-butyl tricarbonate, an intermediate in the synthesis of di-tert-butyl dicarbonate.[1]
The term tricarbonate is sometimes used for salts that contain three carbonate dianions in their covalent structure or stoichiometric formula, such as cerium tricarbonate .