Sunday, March 22, 2015

Weak Bases in Search of H+

Bases move around looking for a partially positive H to snag as H+. H+ is welcome to take the spot at a lone pair site inherent to a weak base (like on N as part of an amine) or a vacant spot by attraction to a negative charge (on anions). If a base collides with the H part of an acid, the base's ability to steal the H+ away is assessed by the value of Kb. A large Kb means the base is a serious thief, a collector of H+. The smaller the Kb (and larger the pKb) means the acid doesn't have to worry too much about acting as an acid. The Kb of the anions of strong bases are so low, that those anions are essentially ineffective as bases (weaker than weak). They are referred to as spectator ions. Can you list the anions of the strong bases you have memorized?

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