What are base anhydrides?

1 Answer
MeneerNask
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 #CaO# which will react with water to form calcium hydroxide #Ca(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_2O#
(compare to: #Zn(OH)_2+2H^+ ->Zn^(2+)+2H_2O#)
In this case you can 'deduce' the imaginary in-between step from oxide to base.

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