Ammonia proton transfer

The Bronsted definitions of acids and bases are more general than the Arrhenius definitions they also apply to species in nonaqueous solvents and even to gas-phase reactions. For example, when pure acetic acid is added to liquid ammonia, proton transfer takes place and the following equilibrium is reached ... 

To express the relative strengths of an acid and its conjugate base (a conjugate acid-base pair ), we consider the special case of the ammonia proton transfer equilibrium, reaction C, for which the basicity constant was given earlier (Kb = [NH4+l[OH ]/ NH3]). Now let s consider the proton transfer equilibrium of ammonia s conjugate acid, NH4+, in water ... 

The occurrence of proton transfer reactions between Z)3+ ions and CHa, C2H, and NDZ, between methanium ions and NH, C2HG, CzD , and partially deuterated methanes, and between ammonium ions and ND has been demonstrated in irradiated mixtures of D2 and various reactants near 1 atm. pressure. The methanium ion-methane sequence proceeds without thermal activation between —78° and 25°C. The rate constants for the methanium ion-methane and ammonium ion-ammonia proton transfer reactions are 3.3 X 10 11 cc./molecule-sec. and 1.8 X 70 10 cc./molecule-sec., respectively, assuming equal neutralization rate constants for methanium and ammonium ions (7.6 X 10 4 cc./molecule-sec.). The methanium ion-methane and ammonium ion-ammonia sequences exhibit chain character. Ethanium ions do not undergo proton transfer with ethane. Propanium ions appear to dissociate even at total pressures near 1 atm. 

Consider the ammonia proton transfer equilibrium, reaction C, for which [NH4+][OH ] b INH,]... 

Base accepts a proton from water (Figure 18.8B). In an aqueous solution of ammonia, proton transfer also occurs. An H from H2O attaches to the N atom s lone pair, forming NH4. Having transferred an H", the H2O becomes an OH ion ... 

Solution Since the reaction is carried out in liquid ammonia, proton transfer from the solvent (ammonia) is the possible termination reaction. The relevant carbanions are... 

Still another type of adsorption system is that in which either a proton transfer occurs between the adsorbent site and the adsorbate or a Lewis acid-base type of reaction occurs. An important group of solids having acid sites is that of the various silica-aluminas, widely used as cracking catalysts. The sites center on surface aluminum ions but could be either proton donor (Brpnsted acid) or Lewis acid in type. The type of site can be distinguished by infrared spectroscopy, since an adsorbed base, such as ammonia or pyridine, should be either in the ammonium or pyridinium ion form or in coordinated form. The type of data obtainable is illustrated in Fig. XVIII-20, which shows a portion of the infrared spectrum of pyridine adsorbed on a Mo(IV)-Al203 catalyst. In the presence of some surface water both Lewis and Brpnsted types of adsorbed pyridine are seen, as marked in the figure. Thus the features at 1450 and 1620 cm are attributed to pyridine bound to Lewis acid sites, while those at 1540... 

Covalent bonding, in all the cases so far quoted, produces molecules not ions, and enables us to explain the inability of the compounds formed to conduct electricity. Covalently bonded groups of atoms can, however, also be ions. When ammonia and hydrogen chloride are brought together in the gaseous state proton transfer occurs as follows ... 

Step 4 Proton transfer from ammonia converts the alkenyl anion to an alkene ... 

Group I metals—sodium is the one usually employed—in liquid ammonia as the solvent convert alkynes to trans alkenes The reaction proceeds by a four step sequence in which electron transfer and proton transfer steps alternate... 

The mechanism by which the Birch reduction of benzene takes place (Figure 118) IS analogous to the mechanism for the metal-ammonia reduction of alkynes It involves a sequence of four steps m which steps 1 and 3 are single electron transfers from the metal and steps 2 and 4 are proton transfers from the alcohol... 

Proton Transfers in Various Solvents. The Autoprotolysis of Methanol. Formic Acid as Solvent. The Sulfate Ion. Autoprotolysis of Formic Add. The Urea Molecule. Sulfuric Add and Liquid Ammonia as Solvents. 

Sulfuric Acid and Liquid Ammonia as Solvents. The proton transfer that takes place in pure sulfuric acid is believed to be... 

A1C13, or S02 in an inert solvent cause colour changes in indicators similar to those produced by hydrochloric acid, and these changes are reversed by bases so that titrations can be carried out. Compounds of the type of BF3 are usually described as Lewis acids or electron acceptors. The Lewis bases (e.g. ammonia, pyridine) are virtually identical with the Bransted-Lowry bases. The great disadvantage of the Lewis definition of acids is that, unlike proton-transfer reactions, it is incapable of general quantitative treatment. 

Solution of alkali metals in liquid ammonia, containing the so-called solvating electrons, may be used as an alternative homogeneous system to initiate polymerization by an electron transfer process. This system suffers, however, from complications resulting from proton transfer from ammonia leading to the formation of NH2- ions, which in turn initiate further polymerization.4... 

Ammonium salts of the zeolites differ from most of the compounds containing this cation discussed above, in that the anion is a stable network of A104 and Si04 tetrahedra with acid groups situated within the regular channels and pore structure. The removal of ammonia (and water) from such structures has been of interest owing to the catalytic activity of the decomposition product. It is believed [1006] that the first step in deammination is proton transfer (as in the decomposition of many other ammonium salts) from NH4 to the (Al, Si)04 network with —OH production. This reaction is 90% complete by 673 K [1007] and water is lost by condensation of the —OH groups (773—1173 K). The rate of ammonia evolution and the nature of the residual product depend to some extent on reactant disposition [1006,1008]. 

The label am " indicates a species dissolved in liquid ammonia.) An example of proton transfer in the gas phase is the reaction of hydrogen chloride and ammonia gases. They produce the fine powder of ammonium chloride often seen coating surfaces in chemical laboratories (Fig. 10.5) ... 

We can also write an equilibrium constant for the proton transfer equilibrium of a base in water. For aqueous ammonia, for instance,... 

The mechanism for the lipase-catalyzed reaction of an acid derivative with a nucleophile (alcohol, amine, or thiol) is known as a serine hydrolase mechanism (Scheme 7.2). The active site of the enzyme is constituted by a catalytic triad (serine, aspartic, and histidine residues). The serine residue accepts the acyl group of the ester, leading to an acyl-enzyme activated intermediate. This acyl-enzyme intermediate reacts with the nucleophile, an amine or ammonia in this case, to yield the final amide product and leading to the free biocatalyst, which can enter again into the catalytic cycle. A histidine residue, activated by an aspartate side chain, is responsible for the proton transference necessary for the catalysis. Another important factor is that the oxyanion hole, formed by different residues, is able to stabilize the negatively charged oxygen present in both the transition state and the tetrahedral intermediate. 

Just as there are weak acids, there are also weak bases. A weak base does not readily accept protons from water molecules but does quantitatively accept protons from hydronium ions. Ammonia is the most common weak base. Ammonia exists predominantly as NH3 molecules in aqueous solution, but it undergoes quantitative proton transfer with hydronium ions to generate ammonium ions ... 

Besides water, the most common weak base is ammonia, NH3, whose proton transfer equilibrium with water appears in Section 16-. Many other weak bases are derivatives of ammonia called amines, hi these organic compounds, one, two, or three of the N—H bonds in ammonia have been replaced with N—C bonds. The nitrogen atom in an amine, like its counterpart in ammonia, has a lone pair of electrons that can form a bond to a proton. Water does not protonate an amine to an appreciable extent, so all amines are weak bases. Table 17-4 lists several examples of bases derived from ammonia. 

Because the breadth of chemical behavior can be bewildering in its complexity, chemists search for general ways to organize chemical reactivity patterns. Two familiar patterns are Br< )nsted acid-base (proton transfer) and oxidation-reduction (electron transfer) reactions. A related pattern of reactivity can be viewed as the donation of a pair of electrons to form a new bond. One example is the reaction between gaseous ammonia and trimethyl boron, in which the ammonia molecule uses its nonbonding pair of electrons to form a bond between nitrogen and boron ... 

In both cases the nitrogen atom uses its pair of nonbonding electrons to make a new covalent bond. This similarity led G. N. Lewis to classify ammonia as a base in its reaction with B (CH3)3 as well as in its reaction with H3 O . Whereas the Br< )nsted definition focuses on proton transfer, the Lewis definition of acids and bases focuses on electron pairs. 

In aqueous solutions we see enhanced mobility and conductivity of the hydrogen ions, which is caused by additional proton transfer along chains of water molecules linked by hydrogen bonds (see Section 7.2.4). Solutions with nonaqueous, proton-containing solvents (e.g., in ammonia) sometimes also exhibit enhanced hydrogen... 

Up to this point, we have dealt with the subject of acid-base chemistry in terms of proton transfer. If we seek to learn what it is that makes NH3 a base that can accept a proton, we find that it is because there is an unshared pair of electrons on the nitrogen atom where the proton can attach. Conversely, it is the fact that the hydrogen ion seeks a center of negative charge that makes it leave an acid such as HC1 and attach to the ammonia molecule. In other words, it is the presence of an unshared pair of electrons on the base that results in proton transfer. Sometimes known as the electronic theory of acids and bases, this shows that the essential characteristics of acids and bases do not always depend on the transfer of a proton. This approach to acid-base chemistry was first developed by G. N. Lewis in the 1920s. 

The conductivity of liquid ammonia is sufficiently high to indicate a very slight degree of autoionization. In order for ions to be produced, something must be transferred from one molecule to another, and in solvents such as water or ammonia it is proton transfer that occurs. Accordingly, the ionization of liquid ammonia can be shown as... 

Acetylene is sufficiently acidic to allow application of the gas-phase proton transfer equilibrium method described in equation l7. For ethylene, the equilibrium constant was determined from the kinetics of reaction in both directions with NH2-8. Since the acidity of ammonia is known accurately, that of ethylene can be determined. This method actually gives A f/ acid at the temperature of the measurement. Use of known entropies allows the calculation of A//ac d from AG = AH — TAS. The value of A//acij found for ethylene is 409.4 0.6 kcal mol 1. But hydrocarbons in general, and ethylene in particular, are so weakly acidic that such equilibria are generally not observable. From net proton transfers that are observed it is possible sometimes to put limits on the acidity range. Thus, ethylene is not deprotonated by hydroxide ion whereas allene and propene are9 consequently, ethylene is less acidic than water and allene and propene (undoubtedly the allylic proton) are more acidic. Unfortunately, the acidity of no other alkene is known as precisely as that of ethylene. 

Alternatively, the translational energy threshold for endothermic proton transfer from MH+ to R can be measured using a flowing afterglow triple quadrupole instrument.127 These data define the proton affinity of M, relative to that of R. Thus, the PA of cyclopropenylidene was found to exceed that of ammonia by 23.3 1.8 kcal/mol (Table 6).128 In order to obtain absolute proton affinities, the enthalpies of formation of both the base and the conjugate acid must be known from other measurements (Eq. 9). Numerous reference compounds with known absolute PA are available.124... 

The reaction of ammonia and hydrogen chloride in the gas phase has been the subject of several studies in the last 30 years [56-65], The interest in this system is mainly that it represents a simple model for proton transfer reactions, which are important for many chemical and biological processes. Moreover, in the field of atmospheric sciences, this reaction has been considered as a prototype system for investigation of particle formation from volatile species [66,67], Finally, it is the reaction chosen as a benchmark on the ability, of quantum chemical computer simulations, to realistically simulate a chemical process, its reaction path and, eventually, its kinetics. 

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