Phosphates

A **phosphate**, an [|inorganic chemical], is a [|salt] of [|phosphoric acid]. In [|organic chemistry], a phosphate, or [|organophosphate] , is an [|ester] of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in [|biochemistry] and [|biogeochemistry] or [|ecology]. Inorganic phosphates are [|mined] to obtain [|phosphorus] for use in agriculture and industry. [|[2]] At elevated temperatures in the solid state, phosphates can [|condense] to form [|pyrophosphates]. The phosphate ion is a [|polyatomic ion] with the [|empirical formula] PO 3−4 and a [|molar mass] of 94.97 g/mol. It consists of one central [|phosphorus] atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms in a [|tetrahedral] arrangement. The phosphate ion carries a negative three formal charge and is the [|conjugate base] of the hydrogen phosphate ion, HPO 2−4, which is the conjugate base of H2PO −4, the dihydrogen phosphate ion, which in turn is the conjugate base of H3PO4, [|phosphoric acid]. The phosphate ion is a [|hypervalent molecule] (the phosphorus atom has 10 electrons in its [|valence shell] ). A phosphate salt forms when a positively charged ion attaches to the negatively charged oxygen atoms of the ion, forming an ionic [|compound]. Many phosphates are not [|soluble] in [|water] at [|standard temperature and pressure]. The sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium and ammonium phosphates are all water soluble. Most other phosphates are only slightly soluble or are insoluble in water. As a rule, the hydrogen and dihydrogen phosphates are slightly more soluble than the corresponding phosphates. The [|pyrophosphates] are mostly water soluble. In strongly acidic conditions, trihydrogen phosphate ( H3PO4 ) is the main form.

>  H3PO4