Acids, hard/soft

The Hard-Soft-Add-Base (HSAB) theory was developed by Pearson in 1963. According to this theory, Lewis acids and Lewis bases are divided into two groups on one hand hard acids and bases, which are usually small, weakly polarizable species with highly localised charges, and on the other hand soft acids and bases which are large, polarizable species with delocalised charges. A selection of Lewis acids, ordered according to their hardness in aqueous solution is presented in Table 1.3. 

The theory predicts high stabilities for hard acid - hard base complexes, mainly resulting from electrostatic interactions and for soft acid - soft base complexes, where covalent bonding is also important Hard acid - soft base and hard base - soft acid complexes usually have low stability. Unfortunately, in a quantitative sense, the predictive value of the HSAB theory is limited. Thermodynamic analysis clearly shows a difference between hard-hard interactions and soft-soft interactions. In water hard-hard interactions are usually endothermic and occur only as a result of a gain in entropy, originating from a liberation of water molecules from the hydration shells of the... 

Bases of low polarizabiUty such as fluoride and the oxygen donors are termed hard bases. The corresponding class a cations are called hard acids the class b acids and the polarizable bases are termed soft acids and soft bases, respectively. The general rule that hard prefers hard and soft prefers soft prevails. A classification is given in Table 3. Whereas the divisions are arbitrary, the trends are important. Attempts to provide quantitative gradations of "hardness and softness" have appeared (14). Another generaUty is the usual increase in stabiUty constants for divalent 3t5 ions that occurs across the row of the Periodic Table through copper and then decreases for zinc (15). 

Oxidation—Reduction. Redox or oxidation—reduction reactions are often governed by the hard—soft base rule. For example, a metal in a low oxidation state (relatively soft) can be oxidized more easily if surrounded by hard ligands or a hard solvent. Metals tend toward hard-acid behavior on oxidation. Redox rates are often limited by substitution rates of the reactant so that direct electron transfer can occur (16). If substitution is very slow, an outer sphere or tunneling reaction may occur. One-electron transfers are normally favored over multielectron processes, especially when three or more species must aggregate prior to reaction. However, oxidative addition... 

The strength of the complexation is a function of both the donor atom and the metal ion. The solvent medium is also an important factor because solvent molecules that are potential electron donors can compete for the Lewis acid. Qualitative predictions about the strength of donor-acceptor complexation can be made on the basis of the hard-soft-acid-base concept (see Section 1.2.3). The better matched the donor and acceptor, the stronger is the complexation. Scheme 4.3 gives an ordering of hardness and softness for some neutral and ionic Lewis acids and bases. 

STRUCTURE-REACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS Table 7-15. Examples of Hard-Soft Acid-Bases... 

These phenomena can be explained by the (hard-soft) acid-base principal as follows C=N-OH is a soft base, hence has stronger affinity towards soft basic metal cations than hard metal cations. The strong participation of the N-OH group in complex formation was further confirmed by the results shown for extraction experiments with 5 and 6. 

A general principle may now be stated which permits correlation of the complexing ability of metals Hard acids tend to associate with hard bases and soft acids with soft bases . This statement must not, however, be regarded as exclusive, i.e. under appropriate conditions soft acids may complex with hard bases or hard acids with soft bases. 

The low stability of the complex 3.6 is consistent with the hard and soft acids and bases principle of Pearson (1963, 1968 Parr and Pearson, 1983 theoretical aspects Pearson, 1989 Chatteraj et al., 1991 monograph Ho, 1977). According to that principle hard acids will tend to complex with hard bases and soft acids with soft bases. Water is a hard base, whereas the nitrosyl ion is classified by Pearson as a borderline acid with a tendency to be soft. 

The terms hard and soft are relative, so there is no sharp dividing line between the two, and many Lewis acids and bases are intermediate between hard and soft. Example shows how to categorize Lewis acids and bases according to their hard-soft properties. 

The concept of hard and soft acids and bases can be used to interpret many trends in chemical reactivity. These trends are summarized in the hard-soft acid-base principle (HSAB principle), an empirical summary of results collected from many chemical reactions studied through decades of research. 

Balance the equation, (b) Identify the elements that change oxidation state, (c) Explain the metathesis portion of the reaction using hard-soft acid-base arguments. 

C21-0023. State the hard-soft acid-base (HSAB) principle. Define and give examples of hard and soft acids and bases. 

As already noted in section 1.4.3, geochemical features of ore fluids responsible for base-metal and gold-silver types of deposits are distinct. They are summarized in Table 1.22. The differences in metals concentrated to the deposits and geochemical fectures of ore fluids responsible for both types of deposits are interpreted in terms of HSAB (hard, soft, acids and bases) principle by Pearson (1963, 1968) below. 

Ahrland et al. (1958) classified a number of Lewis acids as of (a) or (b) type based on the relative affinities for various ions of the ligand atoms. The sequence of stability of complexes is different for classes (a) and (b). With acceptor metal ions of class (a), the affinities of the halide ions lie in the sequence F > Cl > Br > I , whereas with class (b), the sequence is F < Cl" < Br < I . Pearson (1963, 1968) classified acids and bases as hard (class (a)), soft (class (b)) and borderline (Table 1.23). Class (a) acids prefer to link with hard bases, whereas class (b) acids prefer soft bases. Yamada and Tanaka (1975) proposed a softness parameter of metal ions, on the basis of the parameters En (electron donor constant) and H (basicity constant) given by Edwards (1954) (Table 1.24). The softness parameter a is given by a/ a - - P), where a and p are constants characteristic of metal ions. 

This submarine vs. subaerial hypothesis for the origin of the two types of deposits (Kuroko deposits, epithermal vein-type deposits) can reasonably explain the difference in metals enriched into the deposits by HSAB (hard-soft acids and bases) principle proposed by Pearson (1963) (Shikazono and Shimizu, 1992). Relatively hard elements (base metal elements such as Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Fe) are extracted by chloride-rich fluids of seawater origin, while soft elements (Au, Ag, Hg, Tl, etc.) are not. Hard elements tend to form chloro complexes in the chloride-rich fluid, while soft elements form the complexes in H2S-rich and chloride-poor fluids. Cl in ore fluids is thought to have been derived from seawater trapped in the submarine volcanic and sedimentary rocks. 

The difference in the kinds of metals enriched in Kuroko, base metal vein-type and precious metal vein-type deposits could be explained in terms of the HSAB (hard, soft, acids and bases) principle (Pearson, 1963). According to this principle, relatively hard cations (base metal (Cu, Pb, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ag) ions) tend to combine preferentially with chloride ion in hydrothermal solution, while soft cations (Au, Ag, Tl, Hg ions etc.) combine with H2S and HS . The differences in salinity of ore fluids in base-metal-rich deposits (base metal vein-type deposits and Kuroko deposits) and base-metal-poor deposits (precious metal vein-type deposits) is also in accordance with the HSAB principle. 

Simple laws govern the reactions of these substances hard acids react preferentially with hard bases and soft acids with soft bases. Mixing of unsymmetrical complexes results in the reaction... 

As was first suggested by Feldstein and Amodio [121], additives to electroless solutions may be classified according to Pearson s hard-soft methodology for acids and bases [113, 114], Feldstein and Amodio showed that the following group of anions ... 

The hard-soft acid-base principle is not restricted to the usual types of acid-base reactions. It is a guiding principle that for all types of interactions species of similar electronic character interact best. We have already seen some applications (such as the relative strength of HF and HI) of this principle, which we will continue to call HSAB, but we now consider a number of other types of applications. 

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