Bronsted -Lowry base

These other concepts of acids and bases are not so easily applied quantitatively as the Lowry-Bronsted concept. Nevertheless they have proved to be very useful as ways of classifying chemical substances and—more importantly— these ideas have been a stimulus to many advances in inorganic chemistry. 

Since Arrhenius, definitions have extended the scope of what we mean by acids and bases. These theories include the proton transfer definition of Bronsted-Lowry (Bronsted, 1923 Lowry, 1923a,b), the solvent system concept (Day Selbin, 1969), the Lux-Flood theory for oxide melts, the electron pair donor and acceptor definition of Lewis (1923, 1938) and the broad theory of Usanovich (1939). These theories are described in more detail below. 

Any text on acids and bases would not be deemed complete if mention were not made of the extended definition of acids and bases that is embodied in the Lowry-Bronsted theory. The theory basically proposed a more general definition of acids and bases to overpower the limitations of the theory arising from the Arrhenius concept. 

It was G. N. Lewis who extended the definitions of acids and bases still further, the underlying concept being derived from the electronic theory of valence. It provided a much broader definition of acids and bases than that provided by the Lowry-Bronsted concept, as it furnished explanations not in terms of ionic reactions but in terms of bond formation. According to this theory, an acid is any species that is capable of accepting a pair of electrons to establish a coordinate bond, whilst a base is any species capable of donating a pair of electrons to form such a coordinate bond. A Lewis acid is an electron pair acceptor, while a Lewis base is an electron pair donor. These definitions of acids and bases fit the Lowry-Bronsted and Arrhenius theories, and cover many other substances which could not be classified as acids or bases in terms of proton transfer. 

It will be seen from these examples that the process of self-ionization in a protonic solvent involves the transfer of a proton from one solvent molecule to another. Thus, the solvent is acting simultaneously as a Lowry-Bronsted acid and as a base. 

On the other hand an acid orprotogenic solvent will be a poor proton acceptor, accentuating basic properties. This effect is exemplified by the solution of nitric acid in anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, which shows how nitric acid (normally regarded as a strong acid) can behave as a Lowry-Bronsted base. 

Neutralization reactions between Lowry-Bronsted acids and bases are frequently employed in chemical analysis. Methods based on them are sometimes termed acidimetric or alkalimetric. 

The Lowry-Bronsted theory says a base is a proton remover. 

Thus, Lewis s definition is a much broader definition that includes coordination compound formation as acid-base reactions, besides Arrhenius and Lowry-Bronsted acids and bases. Examples ... 

The concepts of the Lowry-Bronsted theory may explain the various reactions that take place during many non-aqueous titrations. Thus, an acid is a proton donor and a base is a proton acceptor. Therefore, when an acid HA undergoes dissociation it gives rise to a proton and the conjugate base A of the acid ... 

The structures, relative stabilities, and relative Lowry-Bronsted acidities of carboranes and boranes as well as related anions, Lewis base adducts, and heteroelement analogs are rationalized primarily on the basis of rudimentary coordination numbers. The principal factors, in decreasing order of importance, are (a) the various deltahedra and deltahedral fragments, (b) the placement of bridge and endohydrogens, (c) the placement of carbon and other heteroelements, and d) the resulting coordination number of boron. 

Nucleophilicity. A distinction is usually made between nucleophilicity and Lowry-Bronsted basicity [213]. The latter involves specifically reaction at a proton which is complexed to a Lewis base (usually H2O), while the former refers to reactivity at centers other than H. Linear correlations have been shown for gas-phase basicity (proton affinity) and nucleophilicity of nitrogen bases toward CH3I in solution [214] where the solvent is not strongly involved in charge dispersal. In each case, reaction of the base/nucleophile... 

Since all proton acceptors have an unshared pair of electrons, and since all electron-pair donors can accept a proton, the Lewis and the Bronsted-Lowry definitions of a base are simply different ways of looking at the same property. All Lewis bases are Bronsted-Lowry bases, and all Bronsted-Lowry bases are Lewis bases. The Lewis definition of an acid, however, is considerably more general than the Bronsted-Lowry definition. Lewis acids include not only H+ but also other cations and neutral molecules having vacant valence orbitals that can accept a share in a pair of electrons donated by a Lewis base. 

Base. A species which accepts protons in a reaction (Lowry-Bronsted) or donates electrons -(Lewis). 

Classify each compound as a Lewis base, a Bronsted-Lowry base, both, or neither. 

Rewrite the following equations to show the Lowry-Bronsted acids and bases actually involved. Label each as stronger or weaker, as in Sec. 1.22. 

The first step is simply an acid-base equilibrium in the Lowry-Bronsted sense (Sec. 1.22). When sulfuric acid, for example, is dissolved in water, the following reaction occurs ... 

Because of the Lowry-Bronsted treatment of acids and bases, we tend to think of hydrogen chiefly in its proton character. Actually, its hydride character has considerably more reality. Solid lithium hydride, for example, has an ionic crystalline lattice made up of Li+ and H " by contrast, a naked unsolvated proton is not encountered by the organic chemist. 

Problem 15.11 Identify the acids and bases (Lewis or Lowry-Bronsted) in each... 

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