A unified view to Brønsted acidity scales: do we need solvated protons?

The most comprehensive solvent acidity scale spanning 28 orders of magnitude of acidity was measured in the low-polarity solvent 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). Its experimental core is linked to the unified acidity scale (pH) in an unprecedented and generalized approach only based on experimental values. This enables future measurements of acid strengths and acidity adjustments in low polarity solvents.

Experimental Basicities of Superbasic Phosphonium Ylides and Phosphazenes.

Experimental basicities of some of the strongest superbases ever measured (phosphonium ylides) are reported, and by employing these compounds, the experimental self-consistent basicity scale of superbases in THF, reaching a pKα (estimate of pKa) of 35 and spanning more than 30 pKa units, has been compiled. Basicities of 47 compounds (around half of which are newly synthesized) are included. The solution basicity of the well-known t-Bu-N═P4(dma)9 phosphazene superbase is now rigorously linked to the scale.

Acidity of Strong Acids in Water and Dimethyl Sulfoxide.

Careful analysis and comparison of the available acidity data of HCl, HBr, HI, HClO4, and CF3SO3H in water, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and gas-phase has been carried out. The data include experimental and computational pKa and gas-phase acidity data from the literature, as well as high-level computations using different approaches (including the W1 theory) carried out in this work. As a result of the analysis, for every acid in every medium, a recommended acidity value is presented.

Experimental Basicities of Phosphazene, Guanidinophosphazene, and Proton Sponge Superbases in the Gas Phase and Solution.

Experimental gas-phase superbasicity scale spanning 20 orders of magnitude and ranging from bicyclic guanidine 7-methyl-1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene to triguanidinophosphazenes and P3 phosphazenes is presented together with solution basicity data in acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran.

Solution and gas-phase acidities of all-trans (all-E) retinoic acid: an experimental and computational study.

Retinoic acid is of fundamental biological importance. Its acidity was determined in the gas phase and in acetonitrile solution by means of mass spectrometry and UV/Vis spectrophotometry, respectively. The intrinsic acidity is slightly higher than that of benzoic acid.

Basicity Limits of Neutral Organic Superbases.

The potential limits of superbasicity achievable with different families of neutral bases by expanding the molecular framework are explored using DFT computations. A number of different core structures of non-ionic organosuperbases are considered (such as phosphazenes, guanidinophosphazenes, guanidino phosphorus ylides). A simple model for describing the dependence of basicity on the extent of the molecular framework is proposed, validated, and used for quantitatively predicting the ultimate basicities of different compound families and the rates of substituent effect saturation.

Superacidity of closo-dodecaborate-based Brønsted acids: a DFT study.

The structures and intrinsic gas-phase acidities (GA) of some dodecaborane acids, the derivatives of YB12H11H (Y = PF3, NH3, NF3, NMe3), B12H12H2, and B12H12H(-) (HA, H2A, and HA(-), respectively) have been computationally explored with DFT B3LYP method at the 6-311+G** level of theory as new possible directions of creating superstrong Brønsted acids. Depending on the nature and number of the substituents different protonation geometries were investigated. In general, the GA values of the neutral systems varied according to the substituents in the following order: CF3 < F < Cl and in case of anionic acids: CF3 < Cl < F.

Gas-phase lithium cation basicity: revisiting the high basicity range by experiment and theory.

According to high level calculations, the upper part of the previously published FT-ICR lithium cation basicity (LiCB at 373 K) scale appeared to be biased by a systematic downward shift. The purpose of this work was to determine the source of this systematic difference. New experimental LiCB values at 373 K have been measured for 31 ligands by proton-transfer equilibrium techniques, ranging from tetrahydrofuran (137.

Relativistic effects on acidities and basicities of Brønsted acids and bases containing gold.

It is usually believed that relativistic effects as described by the Dirac-Schrödinger equation (relative to the classical or time-independent Schrödinger equation) are of little importance in chemistry. A closer look, however, reveals that some important and widely known properties (e.g.

Critical Test of Some Computational Chemistry Methods for Prediction of Gas-Phase Acidities and Basicities.

Gas-phase acidities and basicities were calculated for 64 neutral bases (covering the scale from 139.9 kcal/mol to 251.9 kcal/mol) and 53 neutral acids (covering the scale from 299.

17O NMR studies of ortho-substituent effects in substituted phenyl tosylates.

(17)O NMR spectra for 35 ortho-, para-, and meta-substituted phenyl tosylates (phenyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonates), 4-CH(3)-C(6)H(4) SO(2)OC(6)H(4)-X, at natural abundance in acetonitrile at 50 °C were recorded. The (17)O NMR chemical shifts, δ((17)O), of the sulfonyl (SO(2)) and the single-bonded phenoxy (OPh) oxygens for para and meta derivatives correlated well with dual substituent parameter treatment using the Taft inductive, σ(I), and resonance, σº(R), constants. The influence of ortho substituents on the sulfonyl oxygen and the single-bonded phenoxy oxygen chemical shifts, δ((17)O), was found to be nicely described by the Charton equation: δ((17)O)(ortho) = δ((17)O)(H) + ρ(I)σ(I) + ρ(R)σ°(R) + δE(s)(B) when the data treatment was performed separately for electron-donating +R substituents and electron-attracting -R substituents.

A new class of organosuperbases, N-alkyl- and N-aryl-1,3-dialkyl-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene amines: synthesis, structure, pK(BH+) measurements, and properties.

A series of stable organosuperbases, N-alkyl- and N-aryl-1,3-dialkyl-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene amines, were efficiently synthesized from N,N'-dialkylthioureas and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone and their basicities were measured in acetonitrile. The derivatives with tert-alkyl groups on the imino nitrogen were found to be more basic than the tBuP(1) (pyrr) phosphazene base in acetonitrile. The origin of the high basicity of these compounds is discussed.

Acidity of anilines: calculations vs experiment.

The gas-phase acidities of ca. 60 monosubstituted anilines (with acidity span of almost 50 kcal mol(-1)) have been calculated using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-311+G** level. At this relatively simple level of theory the calculated (ΔG(calc)) and available experimental (ΔG(exp)) acidities are in reasonable quantitative correlation according to the following equation: ΔG(obs) = a + bΔG(calc), where a=20.

Calculations of pKa of superacids in 1,2-dichloroethane.

Acidity calculations for some CH and NH superacids in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) were carried out using SMD and COSMO-RS continuum solvation models. After comparing the results of calculations with respective experimental pK(a) values it was found that the performance of SMD/M05-2X/6-31G* method is characterized by the mean unsigned error (MUE) of 0.5 pK(a) units and the slope of regression line of 0.

Equilibrium acidities of superacids.

In this paper, we report the most comprehensive equilibrium superacidity scale that is available to date. Contrary to most of the past works, this scale is set up in a medium of constant composition and the obtained acidity values characterize the acidities of molecules rather than acidities of media. The current scale is thus complementary to the well-known H(0) scale in the information that it provides.

Gas-phase basicities around and below water revisited.

This work employs Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) and the Gaussian quantum chemistry composite methods W1 and G2 to experimentally and computationally analyze gas-phase basicities (GB) for a series of weak bases in the basicity region around and below water. The study aims to clarify the long-standing discrepancy between reported GB values for weak bases obtained via high-pressure mass spectrometry (HPMS) and ICR; the ICR scale is observed to be more than 2 times contracted compared to the HPMS scale. The computational results of this work support published HPMS data.

Polytrifluoromethylation versus polyfluorination of the isomers of Kekulé benzene and phenol: a theoretical study.

The study of the polyfluorination and polytrifluoromethylation effects on electronic structure and intrinsic acidities has been performed using DFT B3LYP and NBO calculations for the valence isomers of benzene and phenol, i.e., the structures of prismane, benzvalene, Kekulé, and Dewar systems.

Gas-phase Brønsted superacidity of some derivatives of monocarba-closo-borates: a computational study.

The structures and gas-phase acidities (GA) of several CB(11)H(12)H-based carborane acid derivatives (HA) have been calculated with DFT B3LYP method using 6-311+G**, 6-311++G** basis sets. In order to verify the obtained GA values, several systems were also studied at G3(MP2) level of theory. Inserted substituents (CF(3), F, Cl, Br, I, CN, CH(3), etc.

Revision of the gas-phase acidity scale below 300 kcal mol(-1).

The gas-phase acidity (GA) scale from (CF(3)CO)(2)NH to (C(2)F(5)SO(2))(2)NH--about a 24 kcal mol(-1) range of gas-phase acidities--was reexamined using the Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance equilibrium measurement approach. Some additions and modifications to the standard methodology of GA measurements were introduced (estimation of partial pressures from mass spectra of the compounds, instead of the pressure gauge readings and use of long reaction times) to achieve higher reliability. Gas-phase acidities of 18 compounds were determined for the first time.

Hydrogen-bonding interactions of (CF3)3CH and (CF3)3C- in the gas phase. An experimental (FT-ICR) and computational study.

Hydrogen-bonding interactions involving 2-(trifluoromethyl)-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane (1H) and 1(-) have been quantitatively studied by means of Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance spectrometry. The existence of the species (1HCl)(-) and (1H1)(-) was demonstrated, and their thermodynamic stabilities were determined experimentally and computationally. In addition, some of their structural features were analyzed.

IEF-PCM calculations of absolute pKa for substituted phenols in dimethyl sulfoxide and acetonitrile solutions.

Absolute (nonrelative) pKa calculations for substituted phenols were carried out in nonaqueous media, demonstrating the predictive power of the integral equation formalism PCM method with a mean unsigned error of 0.6 pKa units for DMSO and 0.7 pKa units for MeCN at the B3LYP/6-31+G** level of theory combined with the scaled B3LYP/6-311+G** gas-phase data.

Boratabenzene Anions C5B(CN)6(-) and C5B(CF3)6(-) and the superacidic properties of their conjugate acids.

Designing superacids: A computational study of protonated boratabenzenes and the gas-phase acidity of their conjugate acids is presented. Conjugate acids of boratabenzenes substituted with CN or CF(3) groups (see figure) are highly acidic species; the protonated hexacyanoboratabenzene and hexakis(trifluoromethyl)boratabenzene have computational gas-phase acidities of 250.5 and 276.

Pentakis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl, a sterically crowded and electron-withdrawing group: synthesis and acidity of pentakis(trifluoromethyl)benzene, -toluene, -phenol, and -aniline.

A general route to functionalized pentakis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl (C6(CF3)5) derivatives, promising building blocks for designing novel stable carbenes, radical species, superacids, weakly coordinating anions and other practically and theoretically useful species, is presented. This pertrifluoromethylation route proceeds via conveniently pregenerated (trifluoromethyl)copper (CF3Cu) species in DMF, stabilized by addition of 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI). These species react with hexaiodobenzene at ambient temperature to give the potassium pentakis(trifluoromethyl)phenoxide along with hexakis(trifluoromethyl)benzene and pentakis(trifluoromethyl)benzene in a combined yield of 80%.

Brønsted basicities of diamines in the gas phase, acetonitrile, and tetrahydrofuran.

A comprehensive basicity study of alpha,omega-alkanediamines and related bases has been carried out. Basicities in acetonitrile (AN, pK(a) values), tetrahydrofuran (THF, pK(alpha) values), and gas phase (GP, GB values), were measured for 16, 14, and 9 diamine bases and for several related monoamines. In addition the gas-phase basicities and equilibrium geometries were computed for 19 diamino bases and several related monoamines at the DFT B3LYP 6-311+G** level.