What are base anhydrides?

1 Answer
Dec 23, 2016

They are usually oxides of metals, that can react with water to form bases, or behave toward acids as if they had.

Explanation:

Best known example is calcium oxide CaOCaO which will react with water to form calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)_2Ca(OH)2.
Other metal oxides will not react directly with water, but they will react with an acid as if they were a base:
ZnO+2H^+ ->Zn^(2+)+H_2OZnO+2H+Zn2++H2O
(compare to: Zn(OH)_2+2H^+ ->Zn^(2+)+2H_2OZn(OH)2+2H+Zn2++2H2O)
In this case you can 'deduce' the imaginary in-between step from oxide to base.