Nonaqueous Acid-base Chemistry
The acid-base reactions in non-aqueous solvents are typically described by means of the solvent-system definition, although the regular Brønsted-Lowry theory may be applied for the protic solvents, which possess a hydrogen atom that can dissociate. According to the solvent-system definition, acids are the compounds that increase the concentration of the solvonium (positive) ions, and bases are the compounds that result in the increase of the solvate (negative) ions, where solvonium and solvate are the ions found in the pure solvent in equilibrium with its neutral molecules:
protic solvents autodissociation
- 2NH3 ⇌ NH4+ (ammonium) + NH2− (amide)
- 3HF ⇌ H2F+ + HF2- (hydrogen difluoride)
- 2H2SO4 ⇌ H3SO4+ + HSO4-
aprotic solvents autodissociation
- N2O4 ⇌ NO+ (nitrosonium) + NO3− (nitrate)
- 2SbCl3 ⇌ SbCl2+ (dichloroantimonium) + SbCl4- (tetrachloroantimonate)
- POCl3 ⇌ POCl2+ + POCl4-
Thus NaNH2 is a base and NH4Cl is an acid in liquid ammonia, and they react, producing the salt and the solvent:
- NaNH2 + NH4Cl → 2NH3 + NaCl
or, for an aprotic example,
- NaNO3 + NOCl → N2O4 + NaCl
Read more about this topic: Inorganic Nonaqueous Solvent
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