engleski

Computational Prediction of New Extremely Acidic Superacids Awaiting Experimental Synthesis

Superacid is any acid stronger than 100% sulfuric acid. There is an ongoing interest in chemistry for compounds exhibiting extreme acidity, since neutral superacids are the most important catalysts in chemical transformations. In a majority of acid-catalyzed reactions stronger acids provide better catalysts. Nowadays, chemistry and industry predominantly make use of strong inorganic acids although their application is associated with a number of drawbacks and environmentally intolerable solutions. Replacing these acids with exceptionally active organic superacids would reduce waste and energy needs, cut down the process time and make the overall process safer and more economical. Having all in mind, design of novel neutral organic superacids is vital from both practical and scientific points of view. Our strategy in tailoring remarkably acidic molecules, consisting of polycyanation of organic skeletons, has enabled us to predict several classes of superacids and the very first hyperacid, namely undecacyanofluoradene. As evidenced by their gas-phase deprotonation enthalpies (Δ Hacid) they surpass the acidity of sulfuric acid by 30-45 orders of magnitude (Scheme 1). Since the selected molecular skeletons are long-known in chemistry and the synthetic pathways of polycyanation are well-documented in the literature it is likely that some of the proposed molecules could be prepared, which is highly recommended.

superacids

nije evidentirano