Acids and Bases - How it works



Introduction to Acids and Bases

Prior to the development of atomic and molecular theory in the nineteenth century, followed by the discovery of subatomic structures in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, chemists could not do much more than make measurements and observations. Their definitions of substances were purely phenomenological—that is, the result of experimentation and the collection of data. From these observations, they could form general rules, but they lacked any means of "seeing" into the atomic and molecular structures of the chemical world.

The phenomenological distinctions between acids and bases, gathered by scientists from ancient times onward, worked well enough for many centuries. The word "acid" comes from the Latin term acidus, or "sour," and from an early period, scientists understood that substances such as vinegar and lemon juice shared a common acidic quality. Eventually, the phenomenological definition of acids became relatively sophisticated, encompassing such details as the fact that acids produce characteristic colors in certain vegetable dyes, such as those used in making litmus paper. In addition, chemists realized that acids dissolve some metals, releasing hydrogen in the process.

WHY "BASE" AND NOT "ALKALI"?

The word "alkali" comes from the Arabic al-qili, which refers to the ashes of the seawort plant. The latter, which typically grows in marshy areas, was often burned to produce soda ash, used in making soap. In contrast to acids, bases—caffeine, for example—have a bitter taste, and many of them feel slippery to the touch. They also produce characteristic colors in the vegetable dyes of litmus paper, and can be used to promote certain chemical reactions. Note that today chemists use the word "base" instead of "alkali," the reason being that the latter term has a narrower meaning: all alkalies are bases, but not all bases are alkalies.

Originally, "alkali" referred only to the ashes of burned plants, such as seawort, that contained either sodium or potassium, and from which the oxides of sodium and potassium could be obtained. Eventually, alkali came to mean the soluble hydroxides of the alkali and alkaline earth metals. This includes sodium hydroxide, the active ingredient in drain and oven cleaners; magnesium hydroxide, used for instance in milk of magnesia; potassium hydroxide, found in soaps and other substances; and other compounds. Broad as this range of substances is, it fails to encompass the wide array of materials known today as bases—compounds which react with acids to form salts and water.

Toward a Structural Definition

The reaction to form salts and water is, in fact, one of the ways that acids and bases can be defined. In an aqueous solution, hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide react to form sodium chloride—which, though it is suspended in an aqueous solution, is still common table salt—along with water. The equation for this reaction is HCl( aq ) + NaOH( aq ) →H 2 O + NaCl( aq ). In other words, the sodium (Na) ion in sodium hydroxide switches places with the hydrogen ion in hydrochloric acid, resulting in the creation of NaCl (salt) along with water.

But why does this happen? Useful as this definition regarding the formation of salts and water is, it is still not structural—in other words, it does not delve into the molecular structure and behavior of acids and bases. Credit for the first truly structural definition of the difference goes to the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927). It was Arrhenius who, in his doctoral dissertation in 1884, introduced the concept of an ion, an atom possessing an electric charge.

His understanding was particularly impressive in light of the fact that it was 13 more years before the discovery of the electron, the subatomic particle responsible for the creation of ions. Atoms have a neutral charge, but when an electron or electrons depart, the atom becomes a positive ion or cation. Similarly, when an electron or electrons join a previously uncharged

SVANTE ARRHENIUS. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.)
S VANTE A RRHENIUS .
(Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis
. Reproduced by permission.)
atom, the result is a negative ion or anion. Not only did the concept of ions greatly influence the future of chemistry, but it also provided Arrhenius with the key necessary to formulate his distinction between acids and bases.

The Arrhenius Definition

Arrhenius observed that molecules of certain compounds break into charged particles when placed in liquid. This led him to the Arrhenius acid-base theory, which defines an acid as any compound that produces hydrogen ions (H + ) when dissolved in water, and a base as any compound that produces hydroxide ions (OH ) when dissolved in water.

This was a good start, but two aspects of Arrhenius's theory suggested the need for a definition that encompassed more substances. First of all, his theory was limited to reactions in aqueous solutions. Though many acid-base reactions do occur when water is the solvent, this is not always the case.

Second, the Arrhenius definition effectively limited acids and bases only to those ionic compounds, such as hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide, which produced either hydrogen or

THE TARTNESS OF LEMONS AND LIMES IS A FUNCTION OF THEIR ACIDITY—SPECIFICALLY THE WAY IN WHICH CITRIC ACID MOLECULES FIT INTO THE TONGUE'S "SWEET" RECEPTORS. (Orion Press/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.)
T HE TARTNESS OF LEMONS AND LIMES IS A FUNCTION OF THEIR ACIDITY SPECIFICALLY THE WAY IN WHICH CITRIC ACID MOLECULES FIT INTO THE TONGUE ' S " SWEET " RECEPTORS .
(Orion Press/Corbis
. Reproduced by permission.)
hydroxide ions. However, ammonia, or NH 3 , acts like a base in aqueous solutions, even though it does not produce the hydroxide ion. The same is true of other substances, which behave like acids or bases without conforming to the Arrhenius definition.

These shortcomings pointed to the need for a more comprehensive theory, which arrived with the formulation of the Brønsted-Lowry definition by English chemist Thomas Lowry (1874-1936) and Danish chemist J. N. Brønsted (1879-1947). Nonetheless, Arrhenius's theory represented an important first step, and in 1903, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the dissociation of molecules into ions.

The BrØnsted-Lowry Definition

The Brønsted-Lowry acid-base theory defines an acid as a proton (H + ) donor, and a base as a proton acceptor, in a chemical reaction. Protons are represented by the symbol H + , and in representing acids and bases, the symbols HA and A , respectively, are used. These symbols indicate that an acid has a proton it is ready to give away, while a base, with its negative charge, is ready to receive the positively charged proton.

Though it is used here to represent a proton, it should be pointed out that H + is also the hydrogen ion—a hydrogen atom that has lost its sole electron and thus acquired a positive charge. It is thus really nothing more than a lone proton, but this is the one and only case in which an atom and a proton are exactly the same thing. In an acid-base reaction, a molecule of acid is "donating" a proton, in the form of a hydrogen ion. This should not be confused with a far more complex process, nuclear fusion, in which an atom gives up a proton to another atom.

AN ACID-BASE REACTION IN BRØNSTED-LOWRY THEORY.

The most fundamental type of acid-base reaction in Brønsted-Lowry theory can be symbolized thus HA( aq ) + H 2 O( l ) →H 3 O + ( aq ) + A ( aq ). The first acid shown—which, like three of the four "players" in this equation, is dissolved in an aqueous solution—combines with water, which can serve as either an acid or a base. In the present context, it functions as a base.

Water molecules are polar, meaning that the negative charges tend to congregate on one end of the molecule with the oxygen atom, while the positive charges remain on the other end with the hydrogen atoms. The Brønsted-Lowry model emphasizes the role played by water, which pulls the proton from the acid, resulting in the creation of H 3 O + , known as the hydronium ion.

The hydronium ion produced here is an example of a conjugate acid, an acid formed when a base accepts a proton. At the same time, the acid has lost its proton, becoming A , a conjugate base—that is, the base formed when an acid releases a proton. These two products of the reaction are called a conjugate acid-base pair, a term that refers to two substances related to one another by the donating of a proton.

Brønsted and Lowry's definition represents an improvement over that of Arrhenius, because it includes all Arrhenius acids and bases, as well as other chemical species not encompassed in Arrhenius theory. An example, mentioned earlier, is ammonia. Though it does not produce OH ions, ammonia does accept a proton from a water molecule, and the reaction between these two (with water this time serving the function of acid) produces the conjugate acid-base pair of NH 4 + (an ammonium ion) and OH . Note that the latter, the hydroxide ion, was not produced by ammonia, but is the conjugate base that resulted when the water molecule lost its H + atom or proton.

The Lewis Definition

Despite the progress offered to chemists by the Brønsted-Lowry model, it was still limited to describing compounds that contain hydrogen. As American chemist Gilbert N. Lewis (1875-1946) recognized, this did not encompass the full range of acids and bases; what was needed, instead, was a definition that did not involve the presence of a hydrogen atom.

Lewis is particularly noted for his work in the realm of chemical bonding. The bonding of atoms is the result of activity on the part of the valence electrons, or the electrons at the "outside" of the atom. Electrons are arranged in different ways, depending on the type of bonding, but they always bond in pairs.

According to the Lewis acid-base theory, an acid is the reactant that accepts an electron pair from another reactant in a chemical reaction, while a base is the reactant that donates an electron pair to another reactant. As with the Brønsted-Lowry definition, the Lewis definition is reaction-dependant, and does not define a compound as an acid or base in its own right. Instead, the manner in which the compound reacts with another serves to identify it as an acid or base.

AN IMPROVEMENT OVER ITS PREDECESSORS.

The beauty of the Lewis definition lies in the fact that it encompasses all the situations covered by the others—and more. Just as Brønsted-Lowry did not disprove Arrhenius, but rather offered a definition that covered more substances, Lewis expanded the range of substances beyond those covered by Brønsted-Lowry. In particular, Lewis theory can be used to differentiate the acid and base in bond-producing chemical reactions where ions are not produced, and in which there is no proton donor or acceptor. Thus it represents an improvement over Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry respectively.

An example is the reaction of boron trifluoride (BF 3 ) with ammonia (NH 3 ), both in the gas phases, to produce boron trifluoride ammonia complex (F 3 BNH 3 ). In this reaction, boron trifluoride accepts an electron pair and is therefore a Lewis acid, while ammonia donates the electron pair and is thus a Lewis base. Though hydrogen is involved in this particular reaction, Lewis theory also addresses reactions involving no hydrogen.



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