ACIDS & BASES

° Several concepts of acid-base theory:

THE ARRHENIUS CONCEPT

THE BRONSTED-LOWRY CONCEPT
THE LEWIS CONCEPT
ACIDS & BASES
 According to the Arrhenius concept of acids and bases.

An acid is a substance that, when dissolved in water, increase the concentration

of hydrogen ion, (aq)

 The (aq) ion, called the hydrogen ion is actually chemically bonded to water, that is, , called
Hydronium ion.
A base is a substance that when dissolved in water increases the concentration
of the hydroxide ion, (aq)
ACIDS & BASES
MORE ABOUT THE HYDRONIUM ION
 The Hydronium Ion ( actually exists as a hydrogen bonded cluster. The formation of
Hydronium Ions is a complex process in a aqueous solution

The Hydronium ion has

trigonal pyramid geometry
because all three H-O-H
dihedral bond angles are
identical
ACIDS & BASES
 Monoprotic acids are those acids that are able to donate one proton per molecule during the
process of dissociation (sometimes called ionization) as shown below (symbolized by HA):
HA(aq) + H₂O(I) H₃O⁺(aq) + A⁻(aq)
Common examples of monoprotic acids in mineral acids include Hydrochloric Acid (HCI)
and Nitric Acid (HNO₃)
 Polyprotic acids are able to donate more than one proton per acid molecule.
 Diprotic acids have two potential protons to donate

H₂A(aq) + H₂O(I) H₃O⁺(aq) + HA⁻(aq)

 Triprotic acids have three potential protons to donate

H₃A(aq) + H₂O(I)H₃O⁺(aq) + H₂A⁻(aq)

ACIDS & BASES
 Oxoacids
 with one oxygen have the structure: HOI

HOCI HOBr HOI

 Oxoacids with multiple oxygen have the structure

(OH)mYOn
HOCIO₃ (HCIO₄) HOCIO₂ (HOCLO₃)
HOCIO (HCLO₂) HOCL (HCIO)
The more oxygen atoms, the greater the acidity; thus HOCLO₃ is a stronger acid than HOCI
Acidity refers to the relative acid strength, the degree to which the acid dissociates to form
H⁺ (H₃O⁺) & OH⁻
BRONSTED-LOWRY ACIDS &
BASES
 BRONSTED-LOWRY CONCEPT OF ACIDS AND BASES

 In the Bronsted –Lowry concept:

An Acid is a species that donates protons

 A Base is a species that accepts protons
 Acids and Bases can be ions as well as molecular substances
 Acid-base reactions are not restricted to aqueous solution
 Some species can act as either acids or bases (Amphoteric species) depending on what the
other reactant is
BRONSTED-LOWRY ACIDS &
BASES
 Amphoteric Species
 A species that can act as either acid or base is:
Amphoteric
 Water is an important amphoteric species in the acid-base properties of an aqueous solutions
 Water can react as an acid by donating a proton to a base

NH₃(aq) + H₂O(I) NH₄⁺(aq) + OH⁻(aq)

H⁺
 Water can also react as a base by accepting proton from acid

HF(aq) + H₂O(I) F⁻(aq) + H₃O⁺(aq)

H⁺
BRONSTED-LOWRY ACIDS &
BASES
 Bronsted-Lowry Concept of Acids & Bases

Proton transfer as the essential feature of a

Bronsted-Lowry acid-base reaction

Acid Base
H⁺ Donor H⁺ Acceptor
ACIDS & BASES
 Bronsted-Lowry Concept-Conjugate Pairs
 In Bronsted theory, acid and base reactants forms:

Conjugate Pairs
 The acid (HA) donates a proton to water leaving the conjugate acid (A ⁻)

 The (H₂O) accepts a proton to form the conjugate acid (H ₃O ⁺)

HA(aq) + HO(I) ⇄ A⁻(aq) + H₃O⁺(aq)

Acid Base Conjugate Conjugate
Base Acid
BRONSTED-LOWRY ACIDS &
BASES
BRONSTED-LOWERY ACID-BASE CONJUGATE PAIRS

HNO₂(aq) + H₂(I) ↔ H₃O⁺(aq) + NO₂⁻(aq)

acid base acid base

Bronsted Bronsted H ₃O ⁺ is conjugate NO ₂⁻ is conjugate

acid base acid of base H ₂O base of acid HNO ₂
 Conjugate acid-base pairs are shown connected

 Every acid has a conjugate base

 Every base has a conjugate acid

 The conjugate base has one fewer H and one more “minus” charge than the acid

 The conjugate acid has one or more H and one fewer minus than the base
BRONSTED-LOWRY ACIDS &
BASES
 BRONSTED-LOWERY ACID-BASE CONJUGATE PAIRS

NH₃(aq) + H₂O(I) NH₄⁺ aq) + OH⁻(aq)

base acid acid base

Bronsted Bronsted NH ₄⁺(aq) is conjugate OH ⁻ is conjugate

base acid acid of base NH ₃ base of acid H ₂O

Accepts Donates
Proton Proton
BRONSTED-LOWRY ACID &
BASES
Bronsted-Lowery Acid-Base Conjugate Pairs

acid base acid base

H₂S + NH₃ ⥃ NH₄⁺ + HS⁻

Bronsted Bronsted H₄O⁺ is conjugate NO ₂⁻ is conjugate

acid base acid of base NH ₃ Base of acid H ₂S
donates accepts
Proton Proton
 BRONSTED-LOWRY ACID & BASES
 Bronsted-Lowry Concept – The Leveling Effect
 All Bronsted-Lowry acids yield H₃O⁺ ions (Cation)
 All Bronsted-Lowry bases yield OH⁻ ions (Anion)
 All strong acids are equally strong because all of them form the strongest acid possible –
H ₃O ⁺
 Similarly, all strong bases are equally strong because they form the strongest base possible
– OH⁻
 Strong acids and bases dissociate completely yielding H₃O⁺ and OH⁻
 Any acid stronger than H₃O⁺ simply donates a proton to H ₂O
 Any base stronger than OH⁻ simply accepts proton from H ₂O
 Water exerts a leveling effect on any strong acid or base by reacting with it to form water
ionization products
PRACTICE PROBLEM
 Identify the conjugate acid-base pairs in the following:

H₂PO₄⁻(aq) + CO₃⁻²(aq) □ HCO₃⁻(aq) + HPO₄²⁻(aq)

Base Conjugate base

Acid Conjugate base

H₂PO₄⁻ has one or more h than HPO₄²⁻ and
CO₃²⁻ has one fewer H⁺ than HCO₃⁻

H₂PO₄⁻ & HCO₃⁻ are acids

HPO₄²⁻ & CO₃²⁻ are bases

H₂PO₄⁻/HPO₄²⁻ isa conjugate acid-base pair

LEWIS ACIDS & BASES
 Lewis Acids & Bases
 Some acid base on reaction don’t fit the Bronsted-Lowry or Arrhenius classifications
 The Lewis acid-base concepts expands the acid class
 Such reactions involved a “sharing” of election pairs between atoms or ions
 Lewis Acid – An electron deficient species (Electrophile) that accepts an electron pair
 Lewis Base - An electron rich species (Nucleophile) that donates an electron pair
LEWIS ACIDS & BASES
 Lewis Acids & Bases
 The product of any Lewis acid-base reaction is called “adduct”, a single species that contains a
new covalent bond (shared electron pair)
A⁺ + :B A-B
Acid Base
(Electrophile) (Nucleuphile) Adduct

An acid is an A base is an Adduct

electron pair electron pair
acceptor donor
LEWIS ACIDS & BASES
 Species that do not contain Hydrogen in their formulas, such as CO and CU function as Lewis
acids by accepting an electron pair.
 The donated proton of a Bronsted-Lowry acids acts as a Lewis acid by accepting an electron
pair donated by the base:
 The Lewis acids are Yellow and the Lewis bases are Blue in the following reaction
LEWIS ACIDS & BASES
 Solubility Effects

 A Lewis acid-base reaction between nonpolar Diethyl Ether and normally insoluble Aluminum
Chloride

 The solubility of Aluminum Chloride in Diethyl Ether results from the Oxygen acting as a
base by donating an electron pair to the Aluminum acting as an acid forming a water-soluble
polar covalent bond
PRACTICE PROBLEM
 The following shows ball-and-stick model reactants in a Lewis acid-base reaction.
 Write the complete equation for the reaction, including the product
 Identify each reactant as a Lewis acid or Lewis base

A1C1₃ + :NH ₃ ⟶ A1C1₃:NH₃

Lewis acid Lewis base Adduct
ACID & BASES (SUMMARY)
 Arrhenius acid concept

acid = proton ⟶ (H⁺) producer; base = OH⁻ producer

HCI(aq) ⟶ H⁺(aq) + OH⁻(aq)
KOH(s) ⟶ K⁺(aq) ⟶ OH⁻(aq)
Formation of water (H₂O) from H⁺ & OH⁻
 Bronsted-Lowry concept
 Stronger Acid (HA) transfers proton to a stronger base (H ₂O) to form weaker acid (H ₃O ⁺)
and weaker base (A⁻)
HA(aq) + H₂O(I) ⟶ H₃O⁺(aq) + A⁻(aq)
 Stronger base (NH₃) accepts proton from stronger acid (H ₂O)
NH₃(aq) + H₂O⁺(I) NH ₄⁺ (aq) + + OH ⁻(aq)
 Lewis concept
 Donation and acceptance of an electron pair to form a covalent bond in an adduct