Lithium monoxide anion: A ground-state triplet with the strongest base to date

Zhixin Tian, Bun Chan, Michael B. Sullivan, Leo Radom, and Steven R. Kass

Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455; and School of Chemistry and Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia

Edited by W. Carl Lineberger, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, and approved March 13, 2008 (received for review February 12, 2008)

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2008, 105(22), 7647–7651.

ABSTRACT:

Lithium monoxide anion (LiO^–) has been generated in the gas phase and is found to be a stronger base than methyl anion (CH₃^-). This makes LiO^– the strongest base currently known, and it will be a challenge to produce a singly charged or multiply charged anion that is more basic. The experimental acidity of lithium hydroxide is delta H°_acid = 425.7 ± 6.1 kcal·mol^–1 (1 kcal = 4.184 kJ) and, when combined with results of high-level computations, leads to our best estimate for the acidity of 426 ± 2 kcal·mol^–1.

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0801393105

See also this C&E News Article: "Lithium Monoxide Anion Is As Basic As It Gets"