Trioxidane

Trioxidane (also systematically named μ-trioxidanediidodihydrogen), also called hydrogen trioxide or dihydrogen trioxide, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula H[O]
3H (also written as [H(μ-O
3)H] or [H
2O
3]). It is one of the unstable hydrogen polyoxides. In aqueous solutions, trioxidane decomposes to form water and singlet oxygen:

The reverse reaction, the addition of singlet oxygen to water, typically does not occur in part due to the scarcity of singlet oxygen. In biological systems, however, ozone is known to be generated from singlet oxygen, and the presumed mechanism is an antibody-catalyzed production of trioxidane from singlet oxygen.

Preparation

Trioxidane can be obtained in small, but detectable, amounts in reactions of ozone and hydrogen peroxide, or by the electrolysis of water. Larger quantities have been prepared by the reaction of ozone with organic reducing agents at low temperatures in a variety of organic solvents such as the anthraquinone process, and it is also formed during the decomposition of organic hydrotrioxides (ROOOH).