Publication

Abstract : The forty years of superalkalis witnessed exploration of various kinds of these unusual species as well as their applications. We introduce here a new class of superalkali cations, X(CH3)k+1+ for X = F, O and N with valence k. We have analyzed the effect of successive substitutions of CH3 groups. Our ab initio calculations show that the successive substitutions lead to the decrease in the vertical electron affinity of cations, becoming as low as 4.35 eV, 2.87 eV and 2.76 eV for F(CH3)2+, O(CH3)3+ and N(CH3)4+, respectively. These findings should add a new chapter in the field of superalkalis.