Chemical Physics Letters, Vol.714, 65-68, 2019
Computational discovery of the strongest base: Diethynylborazine dianion
Multiply-charged anions are gaining attention owing to their high proton affinity. Recently, ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion has been prepared and shown to have the highest calculated proton affinity. Here, we have shown by calculations that replacement of organic benzene by its inorganic analogue, borazine, makes the species stronger base and its calculated proton affinity is the highest to date. Repulsive Coulomb barrier as well as kinetic stability with respect to 100-picoseconds time scale of this species may lead to its possible spectroscopic identification.