Compounds of the Group 1 elementsSOME COMPOUNDS OF THE GROUP 1 ELEMENTSThis page looks at some compounds of the Group 1 elements (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium) - limited to various bits and pieces required by various UK A level syllabuses. You will find some information about the nitrates, carbonates, hydrogencarbonates and hydrides of the metals.Various data sources give a decomposition temperature for lithium carbonate as 1310 C - well above Bunsen temperatures (about 1000 C maximum if something is heated directly with no glass getting in the way). Heslop and Robinson's Inorganic Chemistry (my copy published in 1960) says that it will decompose on heating in a stream of hydrogen at 800 C. I'm not sure what the purpose of the hydrogen is.