The earlier compiled self-consistent spectrophotometric basicity scale in acetonitrile (AN) was expanded to range from 3.8 to 32.0 pK(a) units, that is 28 orders of magnitude. Altogether 54 new relative basicity measurements (DeltapK(a) measurements) were carried out and 37 new compounds were introduced to the scale (it now includes altogether 89 bases). The relative basicity of any two bases in the scale can be obtained by combining at least two independent sets of measurements. Multiple overlapping measurements make the results more reliable. The overall consistency (as defined earlier) of the measurements is s = 0.03 pK(a) units. Thorough analysis of all of our experimental data (DeltapK(a) values of this and earlier works) and experimental pK(a) data in AN available in the literature (works from the groups of Coetzee and Padmanabhan, Kolthoff and Chantooni, Jr., the Schwesinger group, Bren' et al. and some others, altogether 19 papers) was carried out. On the basis of this analysis the anchor point of the scale-pyridine-was shifted upward by 0.20 pK(a) units thereby also revising the absolute pK(a) values of all the bases on the scale. This way very good agreement between our relative data and the absolute pK(a) values of the abovementioned authors was obtained. The revised basicity scale was interconnected with the earlier published self-consistent acidity scale by DeltapK(a) measurements between acids and bases. The rms deviation between the directly measured DeltapK(a) values and the absolute pK(a) values of the compounds was 0.10 pK(a) units.

The basicities of simple organic bases – aliphatic and aromatic amines, amidines, phosphazenes, as well as saturated and unsaturated nitrogen heterocycles – are examined in acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, tetrahydrofuran, water and the gas phase. The basicities (pKaH values) of conjugate acids of a large variety of bases in these media are presented and discussed. Equations employing easily usable structural descriptors have been derived for approximately converting basicities from acetonitrile to other solvents. Recommendations are given on their practical use and a number of pKaH values that are experimentally unavailable are estimated from these relationships. An important part of the minireview is a large compilation of pKaH and GB values of the compounds in solvents and the gas phase, respectively, as well as the revised basicity scale in acetonitrile, now containing more than 270 pKaH values.

Acidities of different families of acids are examined in media of different physical and chemical nature: water, acetonitrile (AN), 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and the gas phase, with special emphasis on strong acids. Included are OH (carboxylic acids, alcohols, and phenols), NH (sulfonamides, imides), and CH (phenylmalononitriles, etc.) acids as well as HCl, HBr, and HI. Dependence of the acidity trends on moving from water to the gas phase on the nature of the acidity center, and the molecular structure are analyzed. The acidity orders are different in water, AN, DCE, and the gas phase. In some cases the differences are dramatic. AN and DCE display similar acidity order in the set of the investigated acids. It is demonstrated that the decisive factor for the behavior of the acids when transferring between different media is the extent of charge delocalization in the anion and that the recently introduced weighted average positive sigma parameter in spite of its simplicity enables interpretation of the trends in the majority of cases.a Data from Ref [35] if not indicated otherwise. b Reichardt's solvatochromic polarity parameter. [35] c Relative dielectric permittivity at 25 C. d Dipole moment. The first value is expressed in CÁmÁ10 [37] , the second value in Debyes. e The Koppel-Palm solvent basicity parameter [33,34] B and the Kamlet-Taft solvent basicity parameter [36] b. f Estimated value from Ref [37] . g Values from Ref [36] . h The Kamlet-Taft a parameter for solvent hydrogen bond donicity.

The COSMO-RS method, a combination of the quantum chemical dielectric continuum solvation model COSMO with a statistical thermodynamics treatment for realistic solvation simulations, has been used for the prediction of pK(a) values in acetonitrile. For a variety of 93 organic acids, the directly calculated values of the free energies of dissociation in acetonitrile showed a very good correlation with the pK(a) values (r(2) = 0.97) in acetonitrile, corresponding to a standard deviation of 1.38 pK(a) units. Thus, we have a prediction method for acetonitrile pK(a) with the intercept and the slope as the only adjusted parameters. Furthermore, the pK(a) values of CH acids yielding large anions with delocalized charge can be predicted with a rmse of 1.12 pK(a) units using the theoretical values of slope and intercept resulting in truly ab initio pK(a) prediction. In contrast to our previous findings on aqueous acidity predictions the slope of the experimental pK(a) versus theoretical DeltaG(diss) was found to match the theoretical value 1/RT ln (10) very well. The predictivity of the presented method is general and is not restricted to certain compound classes. However, a systematic correction of -7.5 kcal mol(-1) is required for compounds that do not allow electron-delocalization in the dissociated anion. The prediction model was tested on a diverse test set of 129 complex multifunctional compounds from various sources, reaching a root mean square deviation of 2.10 pK(a) units.

For the first time, the self-consistent spectrophotometric acidity scale of neutral Brønsted acids in acetonitrile (AN) spanning 24 orders of magnitude of acidities is reported. The scale ranges from pK(a) 3.7 to 28.1 in AN. The scale includes 93 acids that are interconnected by 203 relative acidity measurements (DeltapK(a) measurements) and contains compounds with gradually changing acidities, including representatives from all of the conventional families of OH (alcohols, phenols, carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids), NH (anilines, diphenylamines, disulfonimides), and CH acids (fluorenes, diphenylacetonitriles, phenylmalononitriles). The CH acids were particularly useful in constructing the scale because they do not undergo homo- or heteroconjugation processes and their acidities are rather insensitive to traces of water in the medium. The scale has been fully cross-validated: the relative acidity of any two acids on the scale can be found by combining at least two independent sets of DeltapK(a) measurements. The consistency standard deviation of the scale is 0.03 pK(a) units. Comparison of acidities in many different media has been carried out, and the structure-acidity relations are discussed. The large variety of the acids on the scale, its wide span, and the quality of the data make the scale a useful tool for further acidity studies in acetonitrile.

A principle for creating a new generation of nonionic superbases is presented. It is based on attachment of tetraalkylguanidino, 1,3-dimethylimidazolidine-2-imino, or bis(tetraalkylguanidino)carbimino groups to the phosphorus atom of the iminophosphorane group using tetramethylguanidine or easily available 1,3-dimethylimidazolidine-2-imine. Seven new nonionic superbasic phosphazene bases, tetramethylguanidino-substituted at the P atom, have been synthesized. Their base strengths are established in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution by means of spectrophotometric titration and compared with those of eight reference superbases designed specially for this study, P2- and P4-iminophosphoranes. The gas-phase basicities of several guanidino- and N',N',N'',N''-tetramethylguanidino (tmg)-substituted phosphazenes and their cyclic analogues are calculated, and the crystal structures of (tmg)3P=N-t-Bu and (tmg)3P=N-t-Bu x HBF4 are determined. The enormous basicity-increasing effect of this principle is experimentally verified for the tetramethylguanidino groups in the THF medium: the basicity increase when moving from (dma)3P=N-t-Bu (pKalpha = 18.9) to (tmg)3P=N-t-Bu (pKalpha = 29.1) is 10 orders of magnitude. A significantly larger basicity increase (up to 20 powers of 10) is expected (based on the high-level density functional theory calculations) to accompany the similar gas-phase transfer between the (dma)3P=NH and (tmg)3P=NH bases. Far stronger basicities still are expected when, in the latter two compounds, all three dimethylamino (or tetramethylguanidino) fragments are replaced by methylated triguanide fragments, (tmg)2C=N-. The gas-phase basicity (around 300-310 kcal/mol) of the resulting base, [(tmg)2C=N-]3P=NH, having only one phosphorus atom, is predicted to exceed the basicity of (dma)3P=NH by more than 40 powers of 10 and to surpass also the basicity of the widely used commercial [(dma)3P=N]3P=N-t-Bu (t-BuP4) superbase.

Seventeen superbasic phosphazenes and two Verkade's bases were used to supplement and extend the experimental gas-phase basicity scale in the superbasic region. For 19 strong bases the gas-phase basicity values (GB) were determined for the first time. Among them are such well-known bases as BEMP (1071.2 kJ/mol), Verkade's Me-substituted base (1083.8 kJ/mol), Et-N=P(NMe2)2-N=P(NMe2)3 (Et-P2 phosphazene, 1106.9 kJ/mol), and t-Bu-N=P(NMe2)3 (t-Bu-P1 phosphazene, 1058.0 kJ/mol). For the first time experimental GB values were determined for P2 phosphazenes. Together with our previous results self-consistent experimental gas-phase basicity scale between 1020 and 1107 kJ/mol is now established. This way an important region of the gas-phase basicity scale, which was earlier dominated by metal hydroxide bases, is now covered also with organic bases making it more accessible for further studies. The GB values for several superbases were calculated using density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-311+G** level. For the phosphazene family the standard deviation of the correlation between the experimental and theoretical values was 6.5 kJ/mol.

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