1-Alkyl-3-methylimidazolium belong to superalkalis

Superalkalis are molecules having lower ionization energy than alkali atoms. These molecules act as powerful reducing agents and building blocks of compounds with several interesting applications. Herein, we reveal the superalkali behavior of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium (nMIM) series of organic compounds. We systematically present the way to reduce their ionization energies and discuss the effect of the length of the alkyl chain. The findings of this work should apply to other heterocyclic systems such as pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, piperidinium, etc.