SL12102

LECTURE 10: ELECTROYLTES AND BUFFERS

1. Key Ideas:
Buffers = combinations of weakly acidic/basic drugs and their salts.
Importance = protect pharmaceutical preparations from sudden change in pH.
- Pharmacological importance = control pH to minimize drug degradation + improve efficacy of delivery.
Conjugate base of strong acid = weak base.
Conjugate acid of strong base = weak acid.

2. Weak acids/bases equilibrium:

- Equilibrium shifts to the left, to formation of acid 1 or base 1.
- Acid 1 = strong tendency to accept protons.
- Base 1 = strong tendency to loose protons.
Conjugate base of weak acid = strong base.
Conjugate acid of weak base = strong acid.

3. Electrolytes:
Electrolyte = compound that Is ionized in solution
Yields ions when dissolved in water + can conduct electric charge.
- Strong electrolyte = compound that is completely ionized in solution.
i) Strong acids/bases = strong electrolytes.
- Weak electrolyte = compound that is incompletely ionized in aqueous solution.
i) Weak acids/bases = weak electrolytes.
- Non-electrolytes = substances that do not yield ions when dissolved in water (eg. urea, steroids and glycerin).

4. Salts as strong electrolytes:

 5. Buffers:

6. Weak acid and its salt:

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 7. Weak base and its salt:

8. Buffer capacity:
Buffer capacity = magnitude of the resistance of a buffer to pH changes.

- ∆m = no. of moles of base/acid added.

- ∆pH = pH change.
- Finding out the no. of moles of base/acid needed to change the pH of 1L of a solution by an amount.

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 - Eg. B = 1 when 1 mole of strong base/acid is added to 1L of the buffer solution results in a change of 1 pH unit
(100x).