text: The methanide anion () exists only in rarefied gas phase or under exotic conditions. It can be produced by electrical discharge in ketene at low pressure (less than one torr) and its enthalpy of reaction is determined to be about 252.2 ± 3.3 kJ/mol. It is a powerful superbase; only the lithium monoxide anion () and the diethynylbenzene dianions are known to be stronger.
  In discussing mechanisms of organic reactions, methyl lithium and related Grignard reagents are often considered to be salts of ; and though the model may be useful for description and analysis, it is only a useful fiction. Such reagents are generally prepared from the methyl halides:
  where M is an alkali metal.