Names | |||
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IUPAC name oxonium | |||
Other names hydronium ion | |||
Identifiers | |||
3D model (JSmol) | |||
ChEBI | |||
ChemSpider | |||
141 | |||
PubChem CID | |||
CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | |||
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Properties | |||
H3O+ | |||
Molar mass | 19.023 g·mol−1 | ||
Acidity (pKa) | 0 | ||
Conjugate base | Water | ||
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). |
In chemistry, hydronium (hydroxonium in traditional British English) is the cation [H3O]+, also written as H3O+, the type of oxonium ion produced by protonation of water. It is often viewed as the positive ion present when an Arrhenius acid is dissolved in water, as Arrhenius acid molecules in solution give up a proton (a positive hydrogen ion, H+) to the surrounding water molecules ( H2O ). In fact, acids must be surrounded by more than a single water molecule in order to ionize, yielding aqueous H+ and conjugate base.
Three main structures for the aqueous proton have garnered experimental support:
Spectroscopic evidence from well-defined IR spectra overwhelmingly supports the Stoyanov cation as the predominant form. [3] [4] [5] [6] [ non-primary source needed ] For this reason, it has been suggested that wherever possible, the symbol H+(aq) should be used instead of the hydronium ion. [2]
The molar concentration of hydronium or H+ ions determines a solution's pH according to
where M = mol/L. The concentration of hydroxide ions analogously determines a solution's pOH. The molecules in pure water auto-dissociate into aqueous protons and hydroxide ions in the following equilibrium:
In pure water, there is an equal number of hydroxide and H+ ions, so it is a neutral solution. At 25 °C (77 °F), pure water has a pH of 7 and a pOH of 7 (this varies when the temperature changes: see self-ionization of water). A pH value less than 7 indicates an acidic solution, and a pH value more than 7 indicates a basic solution. [7]
According to IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry, the hydronium ion should be referred to as oxonium. [8] Hydroxonium may also be used unambiguously to identify it.[ citation needed ]
An oxonium ion is any cation containing a trivalent oxygen atom.
Since O+ and N have the same number of electrons, H3O+ is isoelectronic with ammonia. As shown in the images above, H3O+ has a trigonal pyramidal molecular geometry with the oxygen atom at its apex. The H−O−H bond angle is approximately 113°, [9] [10] and the center of mass is very close to the oxygen atom. Because the base of the pyramid is made up of three identical hydrogen atoms, the H3O+ molecule's symmetric top configuration is such that it belongs to the C3v point group. Because of this symmetry and the fact that it has a dipole moment, the rotational selection rules are ΔJ = ±1 and ΔK = 0. The transition dipole lies along the c-axis and, because the negative charge is localized near the oxygen atom, the dipole moment points to the apex, perpendicular to the base plane.
The hydrated proton is very acidic: at 25 °C, its pKa is approximately 0. [11] The values commonly given for pKaaq(H3O+) are 0 or –1.74. The former uses the convention that the activity of the solvent in a dilute solution (in this case, water) is 1, while the latter uses the value of the concentration of water in the pure liquid of 55.5 M. Silverstein has shown that the latter value is thermodynamically unsupportable. [12] The disagreement comes from the ambiguity that to define pKa of H3O+ in water, H2O has to act simultaneously as a solute and the solvent. The IUPAC has not given an official definition of pKa that would resolve this ambiguity. Burgot has argued that H3O+(aq) + H2O (l) ⇄ H2O (aq) + H3O+ (aq) is simply not a thermodynamically well-defined process. For an estimate of pKaaq(H3O+), Burgot suggests taking the measured value pKaEtOH(H3O+) = 0.3, the pKa of H3O+ in ethanol, and applying the correlation equation pKaaq = pKaEtOH – 1.0 (± 0.3) to convert the ethanol pKa to an aqueous value, to give a value of pKaaq(H3O+) = –0.7 (± 0.3). [13] On the other hand, Silverstein has shown that Ballinger and Long's experimental results [14] support a pKa of 0.0 for the aqueous proton. [15] Neils and Schaertel provide added arguments for a pKa of 0.0 [16]
The aqueous proton is the most acidic species that can exist in water (assuming sufficient water for dissolution): any stronger acid will ionize and yield a hydrated proton. The acidity of H+(aq) is the implicit standard used to judge the strength of an acid in water: strong acids must be better proton donors than H+(aq), as otherwise a significant portion of acid will exist in a non-ionized state (i.e.: a weak acid). Unlike H+(aq) in neutral solutions that result from water's autodissociation, in acidic solutions, H+(aq) is long-lasting and concentrated, in proportion to the strength of the dissolved acid.
pH was originally conceived to be a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration of aqueous solution. [17] Virtually all such free protons are quickly hydrated; acidity of an aqueous solution is therefore more accurately characterized by its concentration of H+(aq). In organic syntheses, such as acid catalyzed reactions, the hydronium ion (H3O+) is used interchangeably with the H+ ion; choosing one over the other has no significant effect on the mechanism of reaction.
Researchers have yet to fully characterize the solvation of hydronium ion in water, in part because many different meanings of solvation exist. A freezing-point depression study determined that the mean hydration ion in cold water is approximately H3O+(H2O)6: [18] on average, each hydronium ion is solvated by 6 water molecules which are unable to solvate other solute molecules.
Some hydration structures are quite large: the H3O+(H2O)20 magic ion number structure (called magic number because of its increased stability with respect to hydration structures involving a comparable number of water molecules – this is a similar usage of the term magic number as in nuclear physics) might place the hydronium inside a dodecahedral cage. [19] However, more recent ab initio method molecular dynamics simulations have shown that, on average, the hydrated proton resides on the surface of the H3O+(H2O)20 cluster. [20] Further, several disparate features of these simulations agree with their experimental counterparts suggesting an alternative interpretation of the experimental results.
Two other well-known structures are the Zundel cation and the Eigen cation. The Eigen solvation structure has the hydronium ion at the center of an H9O+4 complex in which the hydronium is strongly hydrogen-bonded to three neighbouring water molecules. [21] In the Zundel H5O+2 complex the proton is shared equally by two water molecules in a symmetric hydrogen bond. [22] Recent work indicates that both of these complexes represent ideal structures in a more general hydrogen bond network defect. [23]
Isolation of the hydronium ion monomer in liquid phase was achieved in a nonaqueous, low nucleophilicity superacid solution (HF−SbF5SO2). The ion was characterized by high resolution 17O nuclear magnetic resonance. [24]
A 2007 calculation of the enthalpies and free energies of the various hydrogen bonds around the hydronium cation in liquid protonated water [25] at room temperature and a study of the proton hopping mechanism using molecular dynamics showed that the hydrogen-bonds around the hydronium ion (formed with the three water ligands in the first solvation shell of the hydronium) are quite strong compared to those of bulk water.
A new model was proposed by Stoyanov based on infrared spectroscopy in which the proton exists as an H13O+6 ion. The positive charge is thus delocalized over 6 water molecules. [26]
For many strong acids, it is possible to form crystals of their hydronium salt that are relatively stable. These salts are sometimes called acid monohydrates. As a rule, any acid with an ionization constant of 109 or higher may do this. Acids whose ionization constants are below 109 generally cannot form stable H3O+ salts. For example, nitric acid has an ionization constant of 101.4, and mixtures with water at all proportions are liquid at room temperature. However, perchloric acid has an ionization constant of 1010, and if liquid anhydrous perchloric acid and water are combined in a 1:1 molar ratio, they react to form solid hydronium perchlorate (H3O+·ClO−4).[ citation needed ]
The hydronium ion also forms stable compounds with the carborane superacid H(CB11H(CH3)5Br6). [27] X-ray crystallography shows a C3v symmetry for the hydronium ion with each proton interacting with a bromine atom each from three carborane anions 320 pm apart on average. The [H3O] [H(CB11HCl11)] salt is also soluble in benzene. In crystals grown from a benzene solution the solvent co-crystallizes and a H3O·(C6H6)3 cation is completely separated from the anion. In the cation three benzene molecules surround hydronium forming pi-cation interactions with the hydrogen atoms. The closest (non-bonding) approach of the anion at chlorine to the cation at oxygen is 348 pm.
There are also many known examples of salts containing hydrated hydronium ions, such as the H5O+2 ion in HCl·2H2O, the H7O+3 and H9O+4 ions both found in HBr·4H2O. [28]
Sulfuric acid is also known to form a hydronium salt H3O+HSO−4 at temperatures below 8.49 °C (47.28 °F). [29]
Hydronium is an abundant molecular ion in the interstellar medium and is found in diffuse [30] and dense [31] molecular clouds as well as the plasma tails of comets. [32] Interstellar sources of hydronium observations include the regions of Sagittarius B2, Orion OMC-1, Orion BN–IRc2, Orion KL, and the comet Hale–Bopp.
Interstellar hydronium is formed by a chain of reactions started by the ionization of H2 into H+2 by cosmic radiation. [33] H3O+ can produce either OH− or H2O through dissociative recombination reactions, which occur very quickly even at the low (≥10 K) temperatures of dense clouds. [34] This leads to hydronium playing a very important role in interstellar ion-neutral chemistry.
Astronomers are especially interested in determining the abundance of water in various interstellar climates due to its key role in the cooling of dense molecular gases through radiative processes. [35] However, H2O does not have many favorable transitions for ground-based observations. [36] Although observations of HDO (the deuterated version of water [37] ) could potentially be used for estimating H2O abundances, the ratio of HDO to H2O is not known very accurately. [36]
Hydronium, on the other hand, has several transitions that make it a superior candidate for detection and identification in a variety of situations. [36] This information has been used in conjunction with laboratory measurements of the branching ratios of the various H3O+ dissociative recombination reactions [34] to provide what are believed to be relatively accurate OH− and H2O abundances without requiring direct observation of these species. [38] [39]
As mentioned previously, H3O+ is found in both diffuse and dense molecular clouds. By applying the reaction rate constants (α, β, and γ) corresponding to all of the currently available characterized reactions involving H3O+, it is possible to calculate k(T) for each of these reactions. By multiplying these k(T) by the relative abundances of the products, the relative rates (in cm3/s) for each reaction at a given temperature can be determined. These relative rates can be made in absolute rates by multiplying them by the [H2]2. [40] By assuming T = 10 K for a dense cloud and T = 50 K for a diffuse cloud, the results indicate that most dominant formation and destruction mechanisms were the same for both cases. It should be mentioned that the relative abundances used in these calculations correspond to TMC-1, a dense molecular cloud, and that the calculated relative rates are therefore expected to be more accurate at T = 10 K. The three fastest formation and destruction mechanisms are listed in the table below, along with their relative rates. Note that the rates of these six reactions are such that they make up approximately 99% of hydronium ion's chemical interactions under these conditions. [32] All three destruction mechanisms in the table below are classified as dissociative recombination reactions. [41]
Reaction | Type | Relative rate (cm3/s) | |
---|---|---|---|
at 10 K | at 50 K | ||
H2 + H2O+ → H3O+ + H | Formation | 2.97×10−22 | 2.97×10−22 |
H2O + HCO+ → CO + H3O+ | Formation | 4.52×10−23 | 4.52×10−23 |
H+3 + H2O → H3O+ + H2 | Formation | 3.75×10−23 | 3.75×10−23 |
H3O+ + e− → OH + H + H | Destruction | 2.27×10−22 | 1.02×10−22 |
H3O+ + e− → H2O + H | Destruction | 9.52×10−23 | 4.26×10−23 |
H3O+ + e− → OH + H2 | Destruction | 5.31×10−23 | 2.37×10−23 |
It is also worth noting that the relative rates for the formation reactions in the table above are the same for a given reaction at both temperatures. This is due to the reaction rate constants for these reactions having β and γ constants of 0, resulting in k = α which is independent of temperature.
Since all three of these reactions produce either H2O or OH, these results reinforce the strong connection between their relative abundances and that of H3O+. The rates of these six reactions are such that they make up approximately 99% of hydronium ion's chemical interactions under these conditions.
As early as 1973 and before the first interstellar detection, chemical models of the interstellar medium (the first corresponding to a dense cloud) predicted that hydronium was an abundant molecular ion and that it played an important role in ion-neutral chemistry. [42] However, before an astronomical search could be underway there was still the matter of determining hydronium's spectroscopic features in the gas phase, which at this point were unknown. The first studies of these characteristics came in 1977, [43] which was followed by other, higher resolution spectroscopy experiments. Once several lines had been identified in the laboratory, the first interstellar detection of H3O+ was made by two groups almost simultaneously in 1986. [31] [36] The first, published in June 1986, reported observation of the Jvt
K = 1−
1 − 2+
1 transition at 307192.41 MHz in OMC-1 and Sgr B2. The second, published in August, reported observation of the same transition toward the Orion-KL nebula.
These first detections have been followed by observations of a number of additional H3O+ transitions. The first observations of each subsequent transition detection are given below in chronological order:
In 1991, the 3+
2 − 2−
2 transition at 364797.427 MHz was observed in OMC-1 and Sgr B2. [44] One year later, the 3+
0 − 2−
0 transition at 396272.412 MHz was observed in several regions, the clearest of which was the W3 IRS 5 cloud. [39]
The first far-IR 4−
3 − 3+
3 transition at 69.524 μm (4.3121 THz) was made in 1996 near Orion BN-IRc2. [45] In 2001, three additional transitions of H3O+ in were observed in the far infrared in Sgr B2; 2−
1 − 1+
1 transition at 100.577 μm (2.98073 THz), 1−
1 − 1+
1 at 181.054 μm (1.65582 THz) and 2−
0 − 1+
0 at 100.869 μm (2.9721 THz). [46]
An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen ion, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid.
In chemistry, an acid–base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base. It can be used to determine pH via titration. Several theoretical frameworks provide alternative conceptions of the reaction mechanisms and their application in solving related problems; these are called the acid–base theories, for example, Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory.
Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH−. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a single covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It functions as a base, a ligand, a nucleophile, and a catalyst. The hydroxide ion forms salts, some of which dissociate in aqueous solution, liberating solvated hydroxide ions. Sodium hydroxide is a multi-million-ton per annum commodity chemical. The corresponding electrically neutral compound HO• is the hydroxyl radical. The corresponding covalently bound group –OH of atoms is the hydroxy group. Both the hydroxide ion and hydroxy group are nucleophiles and can act as catalysts in organic chemistry.
Hydrolysis is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile.
In chemistry, an acid dissociation constant is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. It is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction
In chemistry, there are three definitions in common use of the word "base": Arrhenius bases, Brønsted bases, and Lewis bases. All definitions agree that bases are substances that react with acids, as originally proposed by G.-F. Rouelle in the mid-18th century.
In chemistry, an amphoteric compound is a molecule or ion that can react both as an acid and as a base. What exactly this can mean depends on which definitions of acids and bases are being used.
Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. Solutions of HF are colorless, acidic and highly corrosive. A common concentration is 49% (48-52%) but there are also stronger solutions and pure HF has a boiling point near room temperature. It is used to make most fluorine-containing compounds; examples include the commonly used pharmaceutical antidepressant medication fluoxetine (Prozac) and the material PTFE (Teflon). Elemental fluorine is produced from it. It is commonly used to etch glass and silicon wafers.
The self-ionization of water (also autoionization of water, autoprotolysis of water, autodissociation of water, or simply dissociation of water) is an ionization reaction in pure water or in an aqueous solution, in which a water molecule, H2O, deprotonates (loses the nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms) to become a hydroxide ion, OH−. The hydrogen nucleus, H+, immediately protonates another water molecule to form a hydronium cation, H3O+. It is an example of autoprotolysis, and exemplifies the amphoteric nature of water.
A hydrogen ion is created when a hydrogen atom loses an electron. A positively charged hydrogen ion (or proton) can readily combine with other particles and therefore is only seen isolated when it is in a gaseous state or a nearly particle-free space. Due to its extremely high charge density of approximately 2×1010 times that of a sodium ion, the bare hydrogen ion cannot exist freely in solution as it readily hydrates, i.e., bonds quickly. The hydrogen ion is recommended by IUPAC as a general term for all ions of hydrogen and its isotopes. Depending on the charge of the ion, two different classes can be distinguished: positively charged ions and negatively charged ions.
In chemistry, neutralization or neutralisation is a chemical reaction in which acid and a base react with an equivalent quantity of each other. In a reaction in water, neutralization results in there being no excess of hydrogen or hydroxide ions present in the solution. The pH of the neutralized solution depends on the acid strength of the reactants.
The Brønsted–Lowry theory (also called proton theory of acids and bases) is an acid–base reaction theory which was first developed by Johannes Nicolaus Brønsted and Thomas Martin Lowry independently in 1923. The basic concept of this theory is that when an acid and a base react with each other, the acid forms its conjugate base, and the base forms its conjugate acid by exchange of a proton (the hydrogen cation, or H+). This theory generalises the Arrhenius theory.
Acid salts are a class of salts that produce an acidic solution after being dissolved in a solvent. Its formation as a substance has a greater electrical conductivity than that of the pure solvent. An acidic solution formed by acid salt is made during partial neutralization of diprotic or polyprotic acids. A half-neutralization occurs due to the remaining of replaceable hydrogen atoms from the partial dissociation of weak acids that have not been reacted with hydroxide ions to create water molecules.
Hydrogen iodide (HI) is a diatomic molecule and hydrogen halide. Aqueous solutions of HI are known as hydroiodic acid or hydriodic acid, a strong acid. Hydrogen iodide and hydroiodic acid are, however, different in that the former is a gas under standard conditions, whereas the other is an aqueous solution of the gas. They are interconvertible. HI is used in organic and inorganic synthesis as one of the primary sources of iodine and as a reducing agent.
An inorganic nonaqueous solvent is a solvent other than water, that is not an organic compound. These solvents are used in chemical research and industry for reactions that cannot occur in aqueous solutions or require a special environment. Inorganic nonaqueous solvents can be classified into two groups, protic solvents and aprotic solvents. Early studies on inorganic nonaqueous solvents evaluated ammonia, hydrogen fluoride, sulfuric acid, as well as more specialized solvents, hydrazine, and selenium oxychloride.
The Grotthuss mechanism is a model for the process by which an 'excess' proton or proton defect diffuses through the hydrogen bond network of water molecules or other hydrogen-bonded liquids through the formation and concomitant cleavage of covalent bonds involving neighboring molecules.
In chemistry, the hydron, informally called proton, is the cationic form of atomic hydrogen, represented with the symbol H+
. The general term "hydron", endorsed by IUPAC, encompasses cations of hydrogen regardless of isotope: thus it refers collectively to protons (1H+) for the protium isotope, deuterons (2H+ or D+) for the deuterium isotope, and tritons (3H+ or T+) for the tritium isotope.
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In chemistry, metal aquo complexes are coordination compounds containing metal ions with only water as a ligand. These complexes are the predominant species in aqueous solutions of many metal salts, such as metal nitrates, sulfates, and perchlorates. They have the general stoichiometry [M(H2O)n]z+. Their behavior underpins many aspects of environmental, biological, and industrial chemistry. This article focuses on complexes where water is the only ligand, but of course many complexes are known to consist of a mix of aquo and other ligands.
A metal ion in aqueous solution or aqua ion is a cation, dissolved in water, of chemical formula [M(H2O)n]z+. The solvation number, n, determined by a variety of experimental methods is 4 for Li+ and Be2+ and 6 for most elements in periods 3 and 4 of the periodic table. Lanthanide and actinide aqua ions have higher solvation numbers (often 8 to 9), with the highest known being 11 for Ac3+. The strength of the bonds between the metal ion and water molecules in the primary solvation shell increases with the electrical charge, z, on the metal ion and decreases as its ionic radius, r, increases. Aqua ions are subject to hydrolysis. The logarithm of the first hydrolysis constant is proportional to z2/r for most aqua ions.