Superbase

In chemistry, a superbase is an extremely basic compound or substance that has a high affinity for protons. The hydroxide ion is the strongest base possible in aqueous solutions, but bases exist with much greater strengths than can exist in water. Such bases are valuable in organic synthesis and are fundamental to physical organic chemistry. Superbases have been described and used since the 1850s. Reactions involving superbases often require special techniques since they are destroyed by water and atmospheric carbon dioxide as well as oxygen. Inert atmosphere techniques and low temperatures minimize these side reactions. Superbases also have a corrosive effect.

Definitions

IUPAC defines superbases simply as a "compound having a very high basicity, such as lithium diisopropylamide." Caubère defines superbases qualitatively but more precisely: "The term superbases should only be applied to bases resulting from a mixing of two (or more) bases leading to new basic species possessing inherent new properties. The term superbase does not mean a base is thermodynamically and/or kinetically stronger than another, instead it means that a basic reagent is created by combining the characteristics of several different bases."

Superbase (database)

Superbase is an end-user desktop database program that started on the Commodore 64 and was ported from that to various operating systems over the course of more than 20 years. It also has generally included a programming language to automate database-oriented tasks, and with later versions included WYSIWYG form and report designers as well as more sophisticated programming capabilities.

History

It was originally created in 1983 by Precision Software for the Commodore 64 and 128 and later the Amiga and Atari ST. In 1989, it was the first database management system to run on a Windows computer.

Precision Software, a UK-based company, was the original creator of the product Superbase. Superbase was and still is used by a large number of people on various platforms. It was often used only as an end-user database but a very large number of applications were built throughout industry, government, and academia and these were often of significant complexity. Some of these applications continue in use to the current day, mostly in small businesses.