A brown slightly water-soluble amorphous powder, Ag₂O; r.d. 7.14. It can be made by adding sodium hydroxide solution to silver(I) nitrate solution. Silver(I) oxide is strongly basic and is also an oxidizing agent. It is used in certain reactions in preparative organic chemistry; for example, moist silver(I) oxide converts haloalkanes into alcohols; dry silver oxide converts haloalkanes into ethers. The compound decomposes to the elements at 300°C and can be reduced by hydrogen to silver. With ozone it gives the oxide AgO (which is diamagnetic and probably Ag^IAg^IIIO₂).