Carbonium ion

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In chemistry, a carbonium ion is any cation that has a pentacoordinated carbon atom. [1] [2] The name carbonium may also be used for the simplest member of the class, properly called methanium (CH+5), where the carbon atom is covalently bonded to five hydrogen atoms. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

The next simplest carbonium ions after methanium have two carbon atoms. Ethynium, or protonated acetylene C2H+3, and ethenium C2H+5 are usually classified in other families. The ethanium ion C2H+7 has been studied as an extremely rarefied gas by infrared spectroscopy. [7] The isomers of octonium (protonated octane, C8H+19) have been studied. [8] The carbonium ion has a planar geometry.

In older literature, the name "carbonium ion" was used for what is today called carbenium. The current definitions were proposed by the chemist George Andrew Olah in 1972 [1] and are now widely accepted.

A stable carbonium ion is the complex pentakis(triphenylphosphinegold(I))methanium (Ph 3PAu)5C+, produced by Schmidbauer and others. [9]

Preparation

Carbonium ions can be obtained by treating alkanes with very strong acids. [10] Industrially, they are formed in the refining of petroleum during primary thermal cracking (Haag-Dessau mechanism). [11] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

A halogen addition reaction is a simple organic reaction where a halogen molecule is added to the carbon–carbon double bond of an alkene functional group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbocation</span> Ion with a positively charged carbon atom

A carbocation is an ion with a positively charged carbon atom. Among the simplest examples are the methenium CH+
3
, methanium CH+
5
and vinyl C
2
H+
3
cations. Occasionally, carbocations that bear more than one positively charged carbon atom are also encountered.

In chemistry, an electrophile is a chemical species that forms bonds with nucleophiles by accepting an electron pair. Because electrophiles accept electrons, they are Lewis acids. Most electrophiles are positively charged, have an atom that carries a partial positive charge, or have an atom that does not have an octet of electrons.

In chemistry, an oxonium ion is any cation containing an oxygen atom that has three bonds and 1+ formal charge. The simplest oxonium ion is the hydronium ion.

In chemistry, a superacid (according to the original definition) is an acid with an acidity greater than that of 100% pure sulfuric acid (H2SO4), which has a Hammett acidity function (H0) of −12. According to the modern definition, a superacid is a medium in which the chemical potential of the proton is higher than in pure sulfuric acid. Commercially available superacids include trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (CF3SO3H), also known as triflic acid, and fluorosulfuric acid (HSO3F), both of which are about a thousand times stronger (i.e. have more negative H0 values) than sulfuric acid. Most strong superacids are prepared by the combination of a strong Lewis acid and a strong Brønsted acid. A strong superacid of this kind is fluoroantimonic acid. Another group of superacids, the carborane acid group, contains some of the strongest known acids. Finally, when treated with anhydrous acid, zeolites (microporous aluminosilicate minerals) will contain superacidic sites within their pores. These materials are used on massive scale by the petrochemical industry in the upgrading of hydrocarbons to make fuels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magic acid</span> Chemical compound

Magic acid (FSO3H·SbF5) is a superacid consisting of a mixture, most commonly in a 1:1 molar ratio, of fluorosulfuric acid (HSO3F) and antimony pentafluoride (SbF5). This conjugate Brønsted–Lewis superacid system was developed in the 1960s by the George Olah lab at Case Western Reserve University, and has been used to stabilize carbocations and hypercoordinated carbonium ions in liquid media. Magic acid and other superacids are also used to catalyze isomerization of saturated hydrocarbons, and have been shown to protonate even weak bases, including methane, xenon, halogens, and molecular hydrogen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbenium ion</span> Class of ions

A carbenium ion is a positive ion with the structure RR′R″C+, that is, a chemical species with a trivalent carbon that bears a +1 formal charge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arenium ion</span> Forms during electrophilic substitution on benzene ring

An arenium ion in organic chemistry is a cyclohexadienyl cation that appears as a reactive intermediate in electrophilic aromatic substitution. For historic reasons this complex is also called a Wheland intermediate, after American chemist George Willard Wheland (1907–1976). They are also called sigma complexes. The smallest arenium ion is the benzenium ion, which is protonated benzene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluoroantimonic acid</span> Chemical compound

Fluoroantimonic acid is a mixture of hydrogen fluoride and antimony penta­fluoride, containing various cations and anions. This substance is a superacid that can be over a billion times stronger than 100% sulfuric acid in terms of its protonating ability measured by Hammett function. It even protonates some hydro­carbons to afford pentacoordinate carbo­cations. Fluoro­antimonic acid is corrosive. For example, it cannot be contained directly in glass carboys, as it attacks glass, but can be stored in containers lined with PTFE (Teflon) or PFA polymers.

In organic chemistry, the term 2-norbornyl cation describes one of the three carbocations formed from derivatives of norbornane. Though 1-norbornyl and 7-norbornyl cations have been studied, the most extensive studies and vigorous debates have been centered on the exact structure of the 2-norbornyl cation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methanium</span> Ion of carbon with five hydrogens

In chemistry, methanium is a complex positive ion with formula [CH5]+ or [CH3(H2)]+, bearing a +1 electric charge. It is a superacid and one of the onium ions, indeed the simplest carbonium ion.

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A halonium ion is any onium ion containing a halogen atom carrying a positive charge. This cation has the general structure R−+X−R′ where X is any halogen and no restrictions on R, this structure can be cyclic or an open chain molecular structure. Halonium ions formed from fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine are called fluoronium, chloronium, bromonium, and iodonium, respectively. The 3-membered cyclic variety commonly proposed as intermediates in electrophilic halogenation may be called haliranium ions, using the Hantzsch-Widman nomenclature system.

In chemistry, an onium ion is a cation formally obtained by the protonation of mononuclear parent hydride of a pnictogen, chalcogen, or halogen. The oldest-known onium ion, and the namesake for the class, is ammonium, NH+4, the protonated derivative of ammonia, NH3.

In chemistry and molecular physics, fluxionalmolecules are molecules that undergo dynamics such that some or all of their atoms interchange between symmetry-equivalent positions. Because virtually all molecules are fluxional in some respects, e.g. bond rotations in most organic compounds, the term fluxional depends on the context and the method used to assess the dynamics. Often, a molecule is considered fluxional if its spectroscopic signature exhibits line-broadening due to chemical exchange. In some cases, where the rates are slow, fluxionality is not detected spectroscopically, but by isotopic labeling and other methods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helium hydride ion</span> Chemical compound

The helium hydride ion or hydridohelium(1+) ion or helonium is a cation (positively charged ion) with chemical formula HeH+. It consists of a helium atom bonded to a hydrogen atom, with one electron removed. It can also be viewed as protonated helium. It is the lightest heteronuclear ion, and is believed to be the first compound formed in the Universe after the Big Bang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxocarbenium</span>

An oxocarbeniumion is a chemical species characterized by a central sp2-hybridized carbon, an oxygen substituent, and an overall positive charge that is delocalized between the central carbon and oxygen atoms. An oxocarbenium ion is represented by two limiting resonance structures, one in the form of a carbenium ion with the positive charge on carbon and the other in the form of an oxonium species with the formal charge on oxygen. As a resonance hybrid, the true structure falls between the two. Compared to neutral carbonyl compounds like ketones or esters, the carbenium ion form is a larger contributor to the structure. They are common reactive intermediates in the hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds, and are a commonly used strategy for chemical glycosylation. These ions have since been proposed as reactive intermediates in a wide range of chemical transformations, and have been utilized in the total synthesis of several natural products. In addition, they commonly appear in mechanisms of enzyme-catalyzed biosynthesis and hydrolysis of carbohydrates in nature. Anthocyanins are natural flavylium dyes, which are stabilized oxocarbenium compounds. Anthocyanins are responsible for the colors of a wide variety of common flowers such as pansies and edible plants such as eggplant and blueberry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethanium</span>

In chemistry, ethanium or protonated ethane is a highly reactive positive ion with formula C
2
H+
7
. It can be described as a molecule of ethane with one extra proton, that gives it a +1 electric charge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methenium</span> Ion of carbon with three hydrogens

In organic chemistry, methenium is a cation with the formula CH+
3
. It can be viewed as a methylene radical with an added proton, or as a methyl radical with one electron removed. It is a carbocation and an enium ion, making it the simplest of the carbenium ions.

Hydrogen-bridged cations are a type of charged species in which a hydrogen atom is simultaneously bonded to two atoms through partial sigma bonds. While best observable in the presence of superacids at room temperature, spectroscopic evidence has suggested that hydrogen-bridged cations exist in ordinary solvents. These ions have been the subject of debate as they constitute a type of charged species of uncertain electronic structure.

In chemistry, the decay technique is a method to generate chemical species such as radicals, carbocations, and other potentially unstable covalent structures by radioactive decay of other compounds. For example, decay of a tritium-labeled molecule yields an ionized helium atom, which might then break off to leave a cationic molecular fragment.

References

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