In organic chemistry, a tricarbonate is a compound containing the divalent −O−C(=O)−O−C(=O)−O−C(=O)−O− 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, HO−C(=O)−O−C(=O)−O−C(=O)−OH.

An important example is di-tert-butyl tricarbonate (H3C−)3C−C3O7−C(−CH3)3, 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 Ce2(CO3)3.

This article about an ester is a stub.