Is HCl(l) acidic?

If in a reaction mixture HCl is given in liquid phase, will it behave as an acid ? 


I know that an aqueous solution of HCl is acidic but am confused about the liquid phase.




It would act as an acid if there were even slightly basic atoms available to protonate. Pure liquid HCl probably would probably have a pretty high $\text{p} (\ce{H2Cl^+})$, though, due to the very low basicity of the chloride ion. In other words, it would have a very low autoionization constant, similar or less than that of $\ce{H2SO4}$ (which has a higher pKa pure than it does in water), based on their similar aqueous pKa values. 


I say "less than" because stabilizing ions would be harder due to the smaller size and higher concentration of charge of the $\ce{H2Cl^+}$ and $\ce{Cl^-}$ ions relative to the more diffuse $\ce{H3SO4^+}$ and $\ce{HSO4^-}$ ions.


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