Acid-Base Theories
Arrhenius Theory
  • Water solutions only
  • Acids have more H+ than OH- in water
  • Bases have more OH- than H+ in water
  • NaC2H3O2 + H2O ---> Na+ + HC2H3O2 + OH-
Bronsted-Lowry Theory
  • Works for any solvent that can accept a proton
  • Acids are proton donors
  • Bases are proton acceptors
  • HClO4 + HC2H3O2 ---> H2C2H3O2+ + ClO4-
Lewis Acids and Bases
  • A general definition used to describe formation of coordinate bonds
  • Acids are electron pair acceptors
  • Bases are electron pair donors
  • BF3 (acid) + :NH3 (base) ---> F3B-NH3
  • Used a lot when describing synthetic reactions in organic chemistry