The chemical behavior of water under extreme pressures and temperatures lies
at the heart of processes shaping planetary interiors, influences the deep
carbon cycle, and underpins innovative high-temperature, high-pressure
synthesis of materials. Recent experiments reveal that hydrocarbons immersed in
ionized water under extreme conditions transform into heavy hydrocarbons and
nanodiamonds. However, the chemistry of water at extreme conditions and its
role in hydrocarbon condensation remains poorly understood. Here, using ab
initio molecular dynamics simulations with enhanced sampling techniques and
machine-learning interatomic potentials, we show that increasing pressure at
high temperature induces water ionization, creating a superacid-like
environment that favors the protonation of hydrocarbons into transient
pentacoordinated carbonium ions like CH
5+. These elusive intermediates
release molecular hydrogen and yield highly reactive carbocations, driving
hydrocarbon chain growth toward nanodiamonds. We demonstrate how the
combination of water ionization and pressure-induced methane polarization leads
to superacid-driven hydrocarbon chemistry, famously known at far milder
conditions. Our findings reveal, for the first time, a superacid aqueous regime
and establish the existence of superacid chemistry under extreme conditions.
Moreover, they provide a unifying reaction network that explains chemical
transformations in environments such as planetary interiors and high pressure,
high temperature experiments.