August 3, 2016

Chemists create new super base

Australian scientists report world record-breaking chemistry discovery.

Australian chemists have broken the world record for the strongest base, a finding that could influence battery and fuel cell technologies as well as the design of novel functional materials.

The discovery by researchers at UOW’s Laser Chemistry Lab in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology, the Australian National University and the University of Sydney, has caused chemists to rewrite the super-base league table for the second time in 30 years.

Associate Professor Adam Trevitt, from the School of Chemistry, who worked on the discovery led by former UOW DECRA fellow Dr Berwyck Poad, said the finding relates to the well-known pH scale that measures the acidic or basic (alkaline) nature of a system.

“At the underlying molecular level, acid and base chemistry is all about the possession and dispossession of protons — and the bases are the proton acceptors.

“The ‘strength’ of a base is a measure how aggressive it scavenges protons; some bases are rather weak-acceptors while others are ferocious proton-thieves”, Professor Trevitt said.

A proton is a small nugget of positive charge and so a negatively-charged molecule should be – at first pass – a good proton acceptor. In water-based environments, the water molecules play an important role in mediating acid/base behaviour – but in the gas-phase using mass spectrometry, molecules can be pushed to extreme limits thus testing our understanding of fundamental chemical properties.

Professor Trevitt said the finding highlights that fundamental chemical discoveries are still being made.

“This fundamental discovery shows how new techniques can provide new ways to create molecules previously thought ‘unmakeable’ and extends our understanding of what is chemically possible.”

“Our team now holds the world record for reporting experimental evidence of the strongest base, which is pretty cool.”

For more information about UOW researchers, visit scholars.uow.edu.au.