Acidic function solvent-system concept

Acidic/Basic Lewis acidity/basicity determines the solvent s ability to donate or accept a pair of electrons to form a coordinate bond with solute and/or between solvent molecules. A scale for this acid/base property was proposed by Gutman (DN and AN donor and acceptor number, respectively) based on calorimetric determination. The complete proton transfer reaction with formation of protonated ions is determined by proton affinity, gas phase acidity, acid or base dissociation constants. Both concepts differ in terms of net chemical reaction. Acidity functions are not unique properties of the solvent system alone, but depend on the solute (or family of closely related solutes) with respect to which the thermodynamic tendency is measured. ... 

Internal and External Phases. When dyeing hydrated fibers, for example, hydrophUic fibers in aqueous dyebaths, two distinct solvent phases exist, the external and the internal. The external solvent phase consists of the mobile molecules that are in the external dyebath so far away from the fiber that they are not influenced by it. The internal phase comprises the water that is within the fiber infrastmcture in a bound or static state and is an integral part of the internal stmcture in terms of defining the physical chemistry and thermodynamics of the system. Thus dye molecules have different chemical potentials when in the internal solvent phase than when in the external phase. Further, the effects of hydrogen ions (H" ) or hydroxyl ions (OH ) have a different impact. In the external phase acids or bases are completely dissociated and give an external or dyebath pH. In the internal phase these ions can interact with the fiber polymer chain and cause ionization of functional groups. This results in the pH of the internal phase being different from the external phase and the theoretical concept of internal pH (6). 

The phenomenon of bond isomerism depending on the state of aggregation, like that of direct bond isomerism, is not restricted to halides of P, As, and Sb. Anhydrous nitric acid, for example, shows appreciable ionic conductivity in the liquid state, but the vapor consists of molecules (1,125). Well-defined salts such as Cu[N03]2 may also be mentioned in this connection. The vapor of copper(II) nitrate contains molecules (5). The concept of isomerism is used here in a broad sense, as the example of anhydrous nitric acid shows. Whereas classical isomerism is restricted to two molecules of the same composition, the phenomenon under discussion here relates to the system as a whole. Liquid HNO3 may also be thought of as a solution containing an ionic form dissolved in the anhydrous acid, which functions as the solvent. This relation is involved in the next type of bond isomerism to be discussed, where the solvent plays a part. 

It is shown that Density Functional Theory offers both a conceptual and a computational tool for chemists in relating electronic structure of atoms and molecules to their properties both as isolated systems and upon interaction. The computational performance of DFT in the calculation of typical DFT quantities such as electronegativity and hardness and in the ev uation of atomic electronic affinities and molecular dipole and quadrupole momCTits is assessed. DFT concepts are discussed as such (a non finite difference evaluation of the electronic Fukui function, local softness and its use in similarity analysis of peptideisosteres and the nuclear Fukui function as a indicator of nuclear rearrangemCTits upon reaction) and in the context of principles (EEM, MHP, HSAB) for a variety of reactions involving the influence of solvent on the acidity of alcohols and the addition of HNC to dipolarophiles. 

---