Methanium
In chemistry, methanium is a complex positive ion with formula [CH3(H2)]+, namely a molecule with one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms and one hydrogen molecule, bearing a +1 electric charge. It is a superacid and one of the onium ions, indeed the simplest carbonium ion. It is highly unstable and highly reactive even upon having a complete octet, thus granting its superacidic properties. Methanium can be produced in the laboratory as a rarefied gas or as a dilute species in superacids. It was prepared for the first time in 1950 and published in 1952 by Victor Talrose and his assistant Anna Konstantinovna Lyubimova. It occurs as an intermediate species in chemical reactions. The methanium ion is named after methane (CH4), by analogy with the derivation of ammonium ion (NH+4) from ammonia (NH3). (Wikipedia).
