Orthoacetic acid

Orthoacetic acid or ethane-1,1,1-triol is an hypothetical organic compound with formula C
₂H
₆O
₃ or H₃C-C(OH)₃. It would be an ortho acid with the ethane backbone.

Orthoacetic acid

Skeletal formula of orthoacetic acid with all implicit hydrogens shown
Names
Preferred IUPAC name Ethane-1,1,1-triol[1]
Identifiers
CAS Number	463-83-2 Y
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
ChemSpider	9128639 N
PubChem CID	10953422
UNII	Q40Q9N063P Y
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID101029654
InChI InChI=1S/C2H6O3/c1-2(3,4)5/h3-5H,1H3 N Key: MAYUCBCSAVDUKG-UHFFFAOYSA-N N
SMILES CC(O)(O)O
Properties
Chemical formula	C2H6O3
Molar mass	78.067 g·mol−1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). N verify (what is YN ?) Infobox references

Orthoacetic acid is believed to be impossible to isolate, since it would readily decompose into acetic acid and water. It may have a fleeting existence in aqueous solutions of acetic acid.^[2]

Orthoacetate anions

The three hydroxyls of CH₃C(OH)₃ could be deprotonated, leading successively to CH₃C(OH)₂(O^–) (dihydrogenorthoacetate), CH₃C(OH)(O^–)₂ (hydrogenorthoacetate), and finally CH₃C(O^–)₃ (orthoacetate).

Orthoacetate esters

There are many stable organic compounds with the trivalent moiety H₃CC(OR)₃, which are formally esters of orthoacetic acid and called orthoacetates. They include trimethyl orthoacetate and triethyl orthoacetate, which are commercially available.

See also

• Orthoformic acid