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ACIDS AND BASES

The document discusses the concepts of acids and bases, including definitions, theories, and the role of activity versus concentration in chemical reactions. It outlines the Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry theories, the strength of acids and bases, the pH scale, and the importance of buffer solutions in maintaining pH stability. Additionally, it touches on the transport of CO2 in blood and the role of zinc in enzyme function.

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3 views

ACIDS AND BASES

The document discusses the concepts of acids and bases, including definitions, theories, and the role of activity versus concentration in chemical reactions. It outlines the Arrhenius and Brønsted-Lowry theories, the strength of acids and bases, the pH scale, and the importance of buffer solutions in maintaining pH stability. Additionally, it touches on the transport of CO2 in blood and the role of zinc in enzyme function.

Uploaded by

a.montano.pala
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ACIDS AND BASES

ACTIVITY vs. CONCENTRATION


Debye – Hückel theory

a = f·c 0<f<1 a: activity; c: concentration

 0.5c i z i
2

 0.51z 2 
log f 
1  (   / 305)

 is ion radius in pm,  is ionic strength


 =: 900 (H+), 400 (PO4-3), 300 pm (K+, Cl-)

Can f be bigger than 1?


z is the integer charge of
the ion (1 for H+, 2 for
Mg2+ etc.),  is ion Here  is the size
radius in pm. or effective
diameter of the
 is the ionic strength of ion in angstrom.
the aqueous solution.
Acids and bases, theories

1) Arrhenius, 1884

An acid- a substance that contains hydrogen


and produces H+ in aqueous solutions

A base - a substance that contains OH group


and produces OH- in aqueous solutions

acid – base reactions, neutralization


2) Broensted - Lowry, 1923

An acid- is defined as a proton donor: HCl,


HCO3-, Fe(H2O)63+

A base - is defined as a proton acceptor, NH3,


HCO3-
Conjugated acid – base pairs

CH3COOH + H2O  CH3COO- + H3O+


Acid1 Base2 Base 1 Acid2

NH3 + H2O  NH4+ + OH-


Base1 Acid2 Acid 1 Base2
Strong and weak acids and bases

Ka, Kb equilibrium constant for the


appropriate dissociation processes
of weak acids and bases Strong acids:
HCl, H2SO4, HNO3, HClO4
Why do acids differ in strength? Weak acids:
H2CO3, CH3COOH, citric
acid, H2S
HNO3 vs. HNO2
H2CO3 vs. H2SO3

Why CH4 is not an acid?


Influence of solvent

Leveling solvent (makes the removal of proton easier),


differentiating solvent (slows down the removal)

Relative nature of the acid / base strength

Compare the solvents: H2O, NH3, CH3COOH


pH scale: pH = -log aH+ = -log (fCH+)
pH = 7.4 → aH+ = 3.98x10-8 mol/l

Autoionization of water
2H2O  H3O+ + OH- Kw = aH3O+aOH-
What is pH of 1x10-8 M HCl solution?
Neutral solutions: absence of acids and basis

pKw = - log Kw =
14.9 (0 oC), 14.5 (10 oC), 14.0 (25 oC),
13.6 (37 oC), 13 (60 oC)
Buffers (the common ion effect)

Definition
A buffer is an aqueous solution consisting of
a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base (or a weak
base and its conjugate acid).

Its pH changes very little when a small amount of strong


acid or base is added to it, so it is used by chemists to
prevent significant changes in the pH of a solution.

Many life forms can exist only in a relatively small pH range;


so they utilize a buffer solution to maintain a constant pH.
An important example of a buffer solution is human blood.
Why do buffers maintain their pH after adding
some acid or base to the solution?

Buffer solutions achieve their resistance to pH


change because of the presence of an
equilibrium between the acid HA and its
conjugate base A-

HA H+ + A-

and because …..


Henderson – Hasselbalch equation
Acidic buffer Basic buffer

[A  ]
pH  pK a  log →
[ HA ]

Example: What is the pH shift after changing the 1M


concentration of either acid or base species by 10 %:

1.1
log  0.087
0.9
Buffer capacity is directly linked to [A-] and [HA].
Transport of CO2 in blood
A zinc prosthetic group in the enzyme is coordinated
in three positions by histidine side-chains. The
fourth coordination position is occupied by water.
This causes polarization of the hydrogen-oxygen
bond, making the oxygen slightly more positive, histidine
thereby weakening the bond.

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