Aluminum carbonate does not exist (although you will find some websites where you see that it is used in some medical prescriptions even though the actual compound is not extant).Why is this compound impossible under ordinary conditions? Are there conditions where it could be made to exist and be stable?I believe it is because the Aluminum is more attracted to oxygen and will form Al2O3 But there is supposedly more reasons and I would appropriate an answer for the second part.
The reason does have something to do with aluminum being more attracted to oxygen, but as it turns out, aqueous aluminum salts are weakly acidic: Al(H2O)6^3+ (aq) -- Al(H2O)5(OH)^2+ (aq) + H+ (aq) These H+ ions tend to react with the carbonate ions faster than the aluminum ions will, forming carbon dioxide gass which bubbles out of solution. The remaining product will be aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3); which can then be converted into aluminum oxide by drying it. I hope this helped!
