Interaction of B(OH)_3^0 and HCO_3^ - in Seawater: Formation of B(OH)_2 CO_3^ -

Boron is known to interact with a wide variety of protonated ligands(HL) creating complexes of the form B(OH)₂L^-.Investigation of the interaction of boric acid and bicarbonate in aqueoussolution can be interpreted in terms of the equilibrium $B(OH)_3^0 + HCO_3^ - rightleftharpoons B(OH)_2 CO_3^ - + H_2 O$ The formation constant for this reaction at 25 °C and 0.7 molkg^-1 ionic strength is $K_{BC} = left[ {B(OH)_2 CO_3^ - } right]left[ {B(OH)_3^0 } right]^{ - 1} left[ {HCO_3^ - } right]^{ - 1} = 2.6 pm 1.7$ where brackets represent the total concentration of each indicatedspecies. This formation constant indicates that theB(OH)₂ $CO_3^ - $ concentration inseawater at 25 °C is on the order of 2 μmol kg^-1. Dueto the presence of B(OH)₂ $CO_3^ - $ , theboric acid dissociation constant ( $Kprime _B $ ) in natural seawaterdiffers from $Kprime _B $ determined in the absence of bicarbonate byapproximately 0.5%. Similarly, the dissociation constants of carbonicacid and bicarbonate in natural seawater differ from dissociation constantsdetermined in the absence of boric acid by about 0.1%. Thesedifferences, although small, are systematic and exert observable influenceson equilibrium predictions relating CO₂ fugacity, pH, totalcarbon and alkalinity in seawater.