Classify the following substances as a Bronsted-Lowry acid, Bronsted-Lowry base, Lewis acid, and/or Lewis base. HCl, BF_3, CCl_3, - HCH_2O, CH_3Cl-OCH_3, NH_3

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Chemistry

Abbie Hicks

20 August, 17:01

Classify the following substances as a Bronsted-Lowry acid, Bronsted-Lowry base, Lewis acid, and/or Lewis base. HCl, BF_3, CCl_3, - HCH_2O, CH_3Cl-OCH_3, NH_3

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Arianna Glass · Answer 1

HCl is a Bronsted acid, dissociates partially or completely with the release of H + dissociating as H + and Cl-.

BF_3 is a Lewis acid because it has an incomplete octet and an empty 2p orbital, so it can accept a lone pair. It is clearly not a Bronsted acid as it does not have a H + to release on dissociation.

CCl_3 Lewis base

-H Lewis base

CH_2O Bronsted base

CH_3Cl Bronsted acid

-OCH_3 Lewis base

NH_3 is a Lewis Base:, N has a a lone pair which it can donate to a Lewis acid like BF3.

Explanation:

The Brønsted-Lowry theory describes acid-base interactions in terms of proton transfer between chemical species. A Brønsted-Lowry acid is any species that can donate a proton, H+, and a base is any species that can accept a proton. As for chemical structure, this means that any Brønsted-Lowry acid must contain a hydrogen that can be dissociated as H+. To accept a proton, a Brønsted-Lowry base must have at least one solitary pair of electrons to form a new bond with a proton.