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Organic Acids and Bases
Organic Acids and Bases
Organic acids:
HA + H2O H3O+ + A-
H+ + H2O H3O+
by convention, G = 0, K = 1
Thus,
HA H+ + A- ; lnKa = -(G /RT)
At equilibrium:
ln Ka ln
'H H 'A A
G o
HA HA
'
RT
Ka = acid dissociation constant
typically measure activity of H+, and conc of HA, A-
(mixed acidity constant)
at low ionic strength, 1
ln Ka ln
H A
HA
log
A
log K pH pH pKa
HA a
Kb
'OH OH 'BH BH
B B
'
H B
' '
H B
Ka
BH
'
BH
Ka * Kb = Kw = 10-14 at 25C
carboxylic acids amines
acids
phenols bases
heterocycles with N
Important functional groups:
Acids: Bases:
CH3-OH alcohols NH3 ammonia
(pKa > 14) (pKa = 9.25)
O
Carboxylic acids CH3NH2 primary amine
CH3-C-OH (pKa = 4.75) (pKa = 10.66)
(CH3)2NH secondary amine
Phenols (pKa = 9.82) (pKa = 10.73)
(CH3)3N tertiary amine
(pKa = 9.81)
benzoic acids (pKa = 4.19)
anilines (pKa = 4.63)
HA
1
1
HA A 1 [ A ] 1 10
( pH pK a )
[ HA]
1
Chemical structure and pKa
We are mostly concerned with compounds for which
3 < pKa <11
aliphatic and aromatic carboxyl groups
aromatic hydroxyl groups (phenols)
aliphatic and aromatic amino groups
N heterocycles
aliphatic or aromatic thiols
These classes of compounds have pKa’s which vary widely
Why?
Substituents can have a dramatic effect on the pKa of
the compound
Substituent effects are of three types:
Inductive effects
positive (electron donating) for O-, NH-, alkyl
negative (electron withdrawing) for NO2, halogen, ether,
phenyl, etc.
Delocalization effects (resonance)
positive for halogen, NH2, OH, OR
negative for NO2, others
Proximity effects
intramolecular hydrogen bonding
steric effects
Inductive effects
pKa
alkyl groups
acetic acid 4.75
are weakly
propanoic acid 4.87 electron
donating
butyric acid 4.85
4-chlorobutyric acid 4.52 chlorines are
strongly
3-chlorobutyric acid 4.05
electron
2-chlorobutyric acid 2.86 withdrawing
proximity is crucial
Delocalization effects (resonance)
positive for halogen, NH2, OH, OR
negative for NO2, others
Example:
chlorinated phenols: general reduction in
pKa due to chlorine
phenol 9.92
substitution is caused
2-chlorophenol 8.44 by inductive (electron
3-chlorophenol 8.98 withdrawing effect)
4-chlorophenol 9.29
specific reduction in
2.4-dichlorophenol 7.85 pKa (dependent on
2,4,5-trichlorophenol 6.91 chlorine position) is
2,4,6-trichlorophenol 6.19 caused by resonance
2,3,4,5-tetrachlorophenol 6.35 effect
2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol 5.40
pentachlorophenol 4.83
Resonance effect of hydroxyl and amino
groups
Resonance effects are heavily influenced by
position
Proximity effects
highly specific interactions due to proximity of
substituents to the functional group:
often difficult to quantify
Hammett Correlation
effects of substituents are quantified via values
pKa pKaH i
i
KH
Daw B , BH
1 K 1
'
H
RT
Octanol-water partitioning:
Kow HA, A K HA
ow
Kow B, BH 1 K B
ow
Problem 8-1
Represent graphically the speciation of 4-methyl-2,5-
dinitrophenol and 3,4,5-trimethylaniline, and 3,4-
dihydroxybenzoic acid as a function of pH (2-12).
Estimate (if necessary) the pKa values of the
compounds.
Problem 8.2