Editing Imidazole (section)

==Salts of imidazole==
[[File:Imidazolium salt.svg|thumb|right|80px|Simple imidazolium cation]]
Salts of imidazole where the imidazole ring is the [[cation]] are known as imidazolium salts (for example, imidazolium [[chloride]] or [[nitrate]]).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Zolfigol|first1=Mohammad A.|last2=Khazaei|first2=Ardeshir|last3=Moosavi-Zare|first3=Ahmad R.|last4=Zare|first4=Abdolkarim|last5=Kruger|first5=Hendrik G.|last6=Asgari|first6=Zhila|last7=Khakyzadeh|first7=Vahid|last8=Kazem-Rostami|first8=Masoud|date=2012-04-06|title=Design of Ionic Liquid 3-Methyl-1-sulfonic Acid Imidazolium Nitrate as Reagent for the Nitration of Aromatic Compounds by in Situ Generation of NO2 in Acidic Media|journal=The Journal of Organic Chemistry|volume=77|issue=7|pages=3640–3645|doi=10.1021/jo300137w|pmid=22409592|issn=0022-3263}}</ref> These salts are formed from the [[protonation]] or substitution at [[nitrogen]] of imidazole. These salts have been used as [[ionic liquids]] and precursors to [[stable carbene]]s. Salts where a deprotonated imidazole is an [[anion]] are also well known; these salts are known as [[imidazolate]]s (for example, sodium imidazolate, NaC<sub>3</sub>H<sub>3</sub>N<sub>2</sub>).