O y . ▁Car bon ate ▁, ▁for ▁example , ▁can ▁be ▁seen ▁as ▁the ▁an ion ▁of ▁carbon ic ▁acid ▁H 2 CO 3 . ▁ ▁Sometimes ▁the ▁" ac id " ▁is ▁actually ▁an ▁alco hol ▁or ▁other ▁species ; ▁this ▁is ▁the ▁case , ▁for ▁example , ▁of ▁ac ety len edi olate ▁ ▁that ▁would ▁yield ▁ac ety len edi ol ▁C 2 H 2 O 2 . ▁ ▁However , ▁the ▁an ion ▁is ▁often ▁more ▁stable ▁than ▁the ▁acid ▁( as ▁is ▁the ▁case ▁for ▁carbon ate ); ▁and ▁sometimes ▁the ▁acid ▁is ▁unknown ▁or ▁is ▁expected ▁to ▁be ▁extremely ▁un stable ▁( as ▁is ▁the ▁case ▁of ▁m eth an et et rac ar box yl ate ▁C ( CO O − ) 4 ). ▁ ▁Ne ut ral ized ▁species ▁Every ▁ox oc ar bon ▁an ion ▁ ▁can ▁be ▁matched ▁in ▁principle ▁to ▁the ▁elect r ically ▁neutral ▁( or ▁ox id ized ) ▁variant ▁C x O y , ▁an ▁ox oc ar bon ▁( ox ide ▁of ▁carbon ) ▁with ▁the ▁same ▁composition ▁and ▁structure ▁except ▁for ▁the ▁negative ▁charge . ▁As ▁a ▁rule , ▁however , ▁these ▁neutral ▁ox oc ar b ons ▁are ▁less ▁stable ▁than ▁the ▁corresponding ▁an ions . ▁ ▁Thus , ▁for ▁example , ▁the ▁stable ▁carbon ate ▁an ion ▁corresponds ▁to ▁the ▁extremely ▁un stable ▁neutral ▁carbon ▁tri ox ide ▁CO 3 ; ▁ox al ate ▁ ▁correspond ▁to ▁the ▁even ▁less ▁stable ▁ 1 ,