Carbon suboxide is the third oxide of carbon, C3O2. It is made from the dehydration of malonic acid, Equation 1, with P4O10 above 140 °C Like carbon dioxide, the C3O2 molecule is linear, with pπ-pπ bonding.
Gaseous carbon suboxide has an evil smell and while stable at –78 °C it polymerizes at 25 °C. Photolysis of C3O2 yields the unstable C2O. As expected from its synthesis, carbon suboxide reacts slowly with water to form malonic acid, i.e., the reverse of Equation 1; however, the reaction with stronger nuceophiles such as amines is rapid, Equation 2.








