The hydronium cation, also known as hydroxonium is the positively charged polyatomic ion with the chemical formula.
If an impurity is an acid or base this will affect the concentrations of hydronium ion and hydroxide ion.
Examples are the hydronium ion in water-based acids, and, the unstable cation of fluoroantimonic acid, the strongest superacid.
Hydronium ions are acids according to all three definitions.
In the cation, three benzene molecules surround hydronium, forming pi-cation interactions with the hydrogen atoms.
Hydrogen ion channels detect the concentration of hydronium ions that are formed from acids and water.
The hydronium ion also forms stable compounds with the carborane superacid.
While hydroiodic acid solutions are stable, the hydronium-astatide solution is clearly less stable than the water-hydrogen-astatine system.