It would be expected that insoluble formose solids that include carboxylic acid groups, potentially derived from Cannizarro reactions, would be able to chelate cations such as Na + and Ca 2+ present in the reaction mixture. Carbonate salts should have EDAX measured Na:C or Ca:C ratios ranging between 2:1 or 1:1, while the pairing of observed morphologies and element ratios is often much lower (Figure ), suggesting the observed regions in the spherical structures are dominated by organic chelates.