Lithium monoxide anion (LiO ؊ ) has been generated in the gas phase and is found to be a stronger base than methyl anion (CH 3 ؊ ).This makes LiO ؊ the strongest base currently known, and it will be a challenge to produce a singly charged or multiply charged anion that is more basic. The experimental acidity of lithium hydroxide is ⌬H°a cid ؍ 425.7 ؎ 6.1 kcal⅐mol ؊1 (1 kcal ؍ 4.184 kJ) and, when combined with results of high-level computations, leads to our best estimate for the acidity of 426 ؎ 2 kcal⅐mol ؊1 .computations ͉ mass spectrometry ͉ super base T he gas-phase acidities of the hydrogen halides were first reported via the application of a thermodynamic cycle (Eqs. 1-5) in 1942 by Briegleb (1, 2).In subsequent years, the acidities of thousands of compounds have been measured by using a variety of techniques (3), and the acidity scale currently spans a 125 kcal⅐mol Ϫ1 (1 kcal ϭ 4.184 kJ) range from CH 4 (⌬H°a cid ϭ 416.8 Ϯ 0.7 kcal⅐mol Ϫ1 ) (4, 5) to HN(SO 2 C 4 F 9 ) 2 (⌬H°a cid ϭ 291.1 Ϯ 2.2 kcal⅐mol Ϫ1 ) (6) [see supporting information (SI) Text]. Methyl anion is the strongest base currently known, which is a position it has occupied for the past 30 years. This raises the question as to whether a more basic species can be made. In this article, we use sophisticated experimental techniques and state-of-the-art theoretical calculations to show that the lithium monoxide anion (LiO Ϫ ) is in fact more basic than methyl anion, and that it will be a challenge to produce a species that is still more basic. Alkyl groups are polarizable but also are generally electronreleasing and, depending on which influence is larger, can destabilize anions. Kinetic measurements indicate that ethane and the secondary position of propane [(CH 3 ) 2 CH 2 ] are 2-3 kcal⅐mol Ϫ1 less acidic than methane (7), but their conjugate bases have never been observed (8, 9). This is not surprising because the electron affinity of methyl radical is only 1.8 Ϯ 0.7 kcal⅐mol Ϫ1 (4), and CH 3 CH 2 Ϫ and (CH 3 ) 2 CH Ϫ are predicted to be unbound with respect to electron detachment (7). Electronegative substituents stabilize negative ions and increase acidities, as reflected by the first-row hydrides [i.e., HF (most acidic) Ͼ H 2 O Ͼ NH 3 Ͼ CH 4 (least acidic)]. To decrease the acidity of a compound and make a stronger base, one might employ an electropositive substituent such as lithium. However, the conjugate bases of lithiated compounds are difficult to prepare in the gas phase, and almost nothing is known about them because the neutral acids tend to be involatile, moisture sensitive, and pyrophoric.A general method for producing metal-containing anions that overcomes these practical problems was developed by Bachrach, Hare, and Kass (10) and subsequently exploited by . In this approach, metal salts of dicarboxylates are produced by electrospray ionization (ESI) and fragmented via energetic collisions (CID), thereby leading to the sequential expulsion of two molecules of carbon dioxide but retention of the metal ion. For example, the con...