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For example, acetic acid is a weak acid which has a = 1.75 x 10 −5. Its conjugate base is the acetate ion with K b = 10 −14 /K a = 5.7 x 10 −10 (from the relationship K a × K b = 10 −14), which certainly does not correspond to a strong base. The conjugate of a weak acid is often a weak base and vice versa.
Hydrogen fluoride, a weak acid in aqueous solution that is normally not thought to have any appreciable Brønsted basicity at all, is in fact the strongest Brønsted base in the mixture, protonating to H 2 F + in the same way water protonates to H 3 O + in aqueous acid. It is the fluoronium ion that accounts for fluoroantimonic acid's extreme ...
Nitric acid, with a pK value of around −1.7, behaves as a strong acid in aqueous solutions with a pH greater than 1. [23] At lower pH values it behaves as a weak acid. pK a values for strong acids have been estimated by theoretical means. [24] For example, the pK a value of aqueous HCl has been estimated as −9.3.
The Hammett acidity function (H 0) is a measure of acidity that is used for very concentrated solutions of strong acids, including superacids.It was proposed by the physical organic chemist Louis Plack Hammett [1] [2] and is the best-known acidity function used to extend the measure of Brønsted–Lowry acidity beyond the dilute aqueous solutions for which the pH scale is useful.
On the other hand, if a chemical is a weak acid its conjugate base will not necessarily be strong. Consider that ethanoate, the conjugate base of ethanoic acid, has a base splitting constant (Kb) of about 5.6 × 10 −10, making it a weak base. In order for a species to have a strong conjugate base it has to be a very weak acid, like water.
Strong bases are leveling solvents for acids, weak bases are differentiating solvents for acids. In a leveling solvent, many acids are completely dissociated and are thus of the same strength. All acids tend to become indistinguishable in strength when dissolved in strongly basic solvents owing to the greater affinity of strong bases for protons.
In general, organic acids are weak acids and do not dissociate completely in water, whereas the strong mineral acids do. Lower molecular mass organic acids such as formic and lactic acids are miscible in water, but higher molecular mass organic acids, such as benzoic acid, are insoluble in molecular (neutral) form.
For example, carbon monoxide is a very weak Brønsted–Lowry base but it forms a strong adduct with BF 3. In another comparison of Lewis and Brønsted–Lowry acidity by Brown and Kanner, [ 19 ] 2,6-di- t -butylpyridine reacts to form the hydrochloride salt with HCl but does not react with BF 3 .