Acid-base equilibria strength

An inflection point in a pH-rate profile suggests a change in the nature of the reaction caused by a change in the pH of the medium. The usual reason for this behavior is an acid-base equilibrium of a reactant. Here we consider the simplest such system, in which the substrate is a monobasic acid (or monoacidic base). It is pertinent to consider the mathematical nature of the acid-base equilibrium. Let HS represent a weak acid. (The charge type is irrelevant.) The acid dissociation constant, = [H ][S ]/[HS], is taken to be appropriate to the conditions (temperature, ionic strength, solvent) of the kinetic experiments. The fractions of solute in the conjugate acid and base forms are given by... 

The ability to make good estimates of acid-base equilibrium constants is an invaluable aid in thinking about organic reactions and processes. Moreover, experimental workup procedures often require pH control that can be easily understood on the basis of pKa considerations. Thus the concept of acid strength is exceedingly important and should be mastered. 

Since solid acid catalysts are used extensively in chemical industry, particularly in the petroleum field, a reliable method for measuring the acidity of solids would be extremely useful. The main difficulty to start with is that the activity coefficients for solid species are unknown and thus no thermodynamic acidity function can be properly defined. On the other hand, because the solid by definition is heterogeneous, acidic and basic sites can coexist with variable strength. The surface area available for colorimetric determinations may have widely different acidic properties from the bulk material this is especially true for well-structured solids like zeolites. It is also not possible to establish a true acid-base equilibrium. 

Recognize acid or base strengths from Ka or pKa values and use these to predict the position of an acid-base equilibrium. (Problems 4.23.4.34.4.35,4.36.4.37, and 4.41)... 

Influence of Ionic Strength. It should be noted that eorrections to take aecount of ionic strength as discussed in Section 3.2.1.2 apply not only to the acid-base equilibrium constants but also to the stability constants for complex formation. 

The redoxbuffer strength serves the same role for the potential of a solution as the acid-base buffer strength serves for its pH. In both cases it is assumed that the corresponding equilibria are established quickly on the time scale of the experiment. With redox equilibria, which often involve bond breaking, this condition is less often met than with acid-base equilibria, where fast establishment of equilibrium is the norm. 

The extent of the ionization step depends on the relative strength of the conjugate acid-conjugate base pairs. The amphiprotic properties of the solvent have an essential effect on the equilibrium constant of this reaction step. The extent of the dissociation step is influenced by the polarity of the solvent, increasing with the dielectric constant of the solvent. In water, all products of acid-base reactions of moderate to low concentrations are essentially completely dissociated into solvated ions (Pecsok et al., 1976). The dissociation step is suppressed by addition or substitution with cosolvents of lower polarity, e.g., alcohols in aqueous formulations. The ion-pair aggregates may have absorption spectra different from the dissociated species. Thus, the amphiprotic properties and polarity (expressed as the dielectric constant) of the solvent are essential for the acid-base equilibrium of the drug and thus the absorption spectrum of the compound. This subject is further discussed in Section 14.2.3. 

If it is accepted that reactions catalyzed by acids or bases involve at some stage a slow acid-base reaction, then the Bronsted relation (cf. Sec. II.4) assumes a reasonable aspect. The constants used to express the strengths of the catalyzing species are usually defined with reference to an equilibrium with some standard acid-base system such as the solvent, but they could in principle be defined in terms of the (hypothetical) protolytic equilibrium between the catalyst and the substrate. The Bronsted relation then amounts to a parallelism between the rates and equilibrium constants of a series of similar reactions. The general form of the relation can in fact be inferred without any reference to a molecular interpretation. Suppose that we have any acid-base equilibrium... 

Recognize acid or base strengths from Kg or pKg values and use these to predict the position of an acid-base equilibrium. 

Strength (to amplify double-layer effects) showed an increase in current as the solution was acidified, and the corresponding analysis also gave pK = 5.6. The results indicated that each of the electrochemical reactions were controlled by a common acid-base equilibrium at an electrode surface functionality. One possibility suggested was a carboxylate with the pK raised by a neighbouring hydrogen-bond acceptor. 

Any quantitative measure of the acidity of organic acids or bases involves measuring the equilibrium concentrations of the various components in an acid-base equilibrium. The strength of an acid is then expressed by an equilibrium constant. The dissociation (ionization) of acetic acid in water is given by the following equation ... 

Just as most acid-base reactions in solution reach a state of equilibrium, so most aqueous redox reactions reach equilibrium. Just as the favored side of an acid-base equilibrium can be predicted from acid-base strength, so the favored side of a redox equilibrium can be predicted from oxidizing agent-reducing agent strength. 

If the rate equation contains the concentration of a species involved in a preequilibrium step (often an acid-base species), then this concentration may be a function of ionic strength via the ionic strength dependence of the equilibrium constant controlling the concentration. Therefore, the rate constant may vary with ionic strength through this dependence this is called a secondary salt effect. This effect is an artifact in a sense, because its source is independent of the rate process, and it can be completely accounted for by evaluating the rate constant on the basis of the actual species concentration, calculated by means of the equilibrium constant appropriate to the ionic strength in the rate study. 

We see in Table 11-IV that the equilibrium view of acid strengths suggests that we regard water itself as a weak acid. It can release hydrogen ions and the extent to which it does so is indicated in its equilibrium constant, just as for the other acids. We shall see that this type of comparison, stimulated by our equilibrium considerations, leads us to a valuable generalization of the acid-base concept. 

We can use this more general view to discuss the strengths of acids. In our generalized acid-base reaction (52), the proton transfer implies the chemical bond in HB, must be broken and the chemical bond in HB2 must be formed. If the HB, bond is easily broken, then HB, will be a strong acid. Then equilibrium will tend to favor a proton transfer from HB, to some other base, B2. If, on the other hand, the HB, bond is extremely stable, then this substance will be a weak acid. Equilibrium will tend to favor a proton transfer from some other acid, HB2, to base B, forming the stable HB, bond. 

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