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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Achieving Moderate Pressures in Sealed Vessels Using Dry Ice As a Solid CO2 Source
Published on: August 17, 2018
The sequestration of hydroxyl ions by CO2 in liquid water: the physiological implications and the second function of
1Department of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway College, University of London, Egham, Surrey, Great Britain.
Abstract:
The pH changes due to bubbling CO2 through water produced anomalies which were more readily explained by an hypothesis based on electrostatic attractions between the molecules. The present studies have suggested that an hexagonal array of six carbon dioxide molecules could bind and sequester a hydroxyl anion. The binding energy of the complex is estimated to be comparable with that of a covalent compound and its dissociation may only occur at the water interface with air or at the water/hydrophobic protein interface in a protein cleft. The physiological importance lies in the consequential release of an equal number of free hydrogen ions (H3O+) and the disruption of the normal action of buffer systems in regulating the cytoplasmic pH. The counteraction of this sequestration reaction and the acid-base disturbances which result, form the second important function of carbonic anhydrase isoforms, the mechanisms of which are briefly discussed.
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