Imidazolate (C₃H₃N) is the conjugate base of

imidazole Imidazole (ImH) is an organic compound with the formula . It is a white or colourless solid that is soluble in water, producing a mildly alkaline solution. It can be classified as a heterocycle, specifically as a diazole. Many natural products, ...

. It is a nucleophile and a strong base. The free anion has C_2v

symmetry Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is Invariant (mathematics), invariant und ...

. Imidazole has a p''K''_a of 14.05, so the deprotonation of imidazole (C₃H₃N₂H) requires a strong base.

Occurrence

Imidazolate is a common

bridging ligand In coordination chemistry, a bridging ligand is a ligand that connects two or more atoms, usually metal ions. The ligand may be atomic or polyatomic. Virtually all complex organic compounds can serve as bridging ligands, so the term is usually r ...

coordination chemistry A coordination complex is a chemical compound consisting of a central atom or ion, which is usually metallic and is called the ''coordination centre'', and a surrounding array of chemical bond, bound molecules or ions, that are in turn known as ' ...

. In the

zeolitic imidazolate framework Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a class of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are topologically isomorphic with zeolites. ZIFs are composed of tetrahedrally-coordinated transition metal ions (e.g. Fe, Co, Zn) connected by imida ...

s, the metals are interconnected via imidazolates.Zhang, J.-P.; Zhang, Y.-B.; Lin, J.-B.; Chen, X.-M., "Metal Azolate Frameworks: From Crystal Engineering to Functional Materials", Chem. Rev. 2012, vol. 112, pp. 1001-1033. In the enzyme

superoxide dismutase Superoxide dismutase (SOD, ) is an enzyme that alternately catalyzes the dismutation (or partitioning) of the superoxide () anion radical into normal molecular oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (). Superoxide is produced as a by-product of oxy ...

, imidazolate links

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

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References

Imidazoles Anions