The Strongest Bases in the World
Acids are widely considered to be the scariest chemical compounds of all, but bases can be just as powerful. Most powerful of all are a special class of pH scale-defying bases called superbases!...
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This episode is about the most basic things in the world. But I don’t mean, like, simple things, like "ugh, she's so basic" — we’re talking chemically basic, like the opposite of an acid. If a substance is basic, it’s said to have a high affinity for hydrogen, meaning that it’s great at bonding with hydrogen ions. Just like with super-strong acids, there’s a whole class of bases that are especially strong, called superbases. we have this idea that acids are the most scary of all chemical compounds, but beases can be just as dangerous. And just last year, researchers in Australia managed to create the strongest superbase ever discovered — a compound called ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion. There are a few characteristics that ...
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This episode is about the most basic things in the world. But I don’t mean, like, simple things, like "ugh, she's so basic" — we’re talking chemically basic, like the opposite of an acid. If a substance is basic, it’s said to have a high affinity for hydrogen, meaning that it’s great at bonding with hydrogen ions. Just like with super-strong acids, there’s a whole class of bases that are especially strong, called superbases. we have this idea that acids are the most scary of all chemical compounds, but beases can be just as dangerous. And just last year, researchers in Australia managed to create the strongest superbase ever discovered — a compound called ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion. There are a few characteristics that ...
