ABSTRACT Systematic studies of very strong neutral acids and very strong neutral bases have been performed in the gas phase during the last decade. In the case of organic systems, the current upper limit of the basicity scale is now not very far from the current lower limit of the acidity scale. The gap between the proton affinity (PA) of the strongest organic suberbase and the deprotonation enthalpy (DPE) of the strongest organic superacid is only ca. 100 kJ mol-1. The PA predicted for phosphazenes fills up this gap between the two scales. Inorganic oxides and mineral acids have also PAs and DPEs in this range. Therefore, a spontaneous proton transfer in the gas phase between neutral superacids and neutral superbases may be envisioned.
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