Carbonic Acid

Carbonic acid is a chemical compound with the chemical formula H2CO3. The molecule rapidly converts to water and carbon dioxide in the presence of water. In constrast to early-twentieth century textbooks, numerous studies conducted since ca. 1990 identified H2CO3 as a real molecule with a distinct Raman spectrum and with a first-order life-time of ca. 20 ms at 37 °C. Solid anhydrous carbonic acid has also been isolated.