Trihydrate
In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understood.
In organic chemistry, a hydrate is a compound formed by the addition of water or its elements to another molecule. For example, ethanol, CH3–CH2–OH, is the product of the hydration reaction of ethene, CH2=CH2, formed by the addition of H to one C and OH to the other C, and so can be considered as the hydrate of ethene. A molecule of water may be eliminated, for example by the action of sulfuric acid. Another example is chloral hydrate, CCl3–CH(OH)2, which can be formed by reaction of water with chloral, CCl3–CH=O.
Many organic molecules, as well as inorganic molecules, form crystals that incorporate water into the crystalline structure without chemical alteration of the organic molecule (water of crystallization). The sugar trehalose, for example, exists in both an anhydrous form (melting point 203 °C) and as a dihydrate (melting point 97 °C). Protein crystals commonly have as much as 50% water content.
Molecules are also labeled as hydrates for historical reasons not covered above. Glucose, C6H12O6, was originally thought of as C6(H2O)6 and described as a carbohydrate. Methanol is often sold as "methyl hydrate", implying the incorrect formula CH3OH2, while the correct formula is CH3–OH.
Hydrates are inorganic salts "containing water molecules combined in a definite ratio as an integral part of the crystal" that are either bound to a metal center or that have crystallized with the metal complex. Such hydrates are also said to contain water of crystallization or water of hydration. If the water is heavy water, where the hydrogen involved is the isotope deuterium, then the term deuterate may be used in place of hydrate.
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