pH and Buffer

Solutions
Dr. Kamal Omer, Associate Professor of
Biochemsitry & Molecular Biology, Faculty
of Medicine & Health Sciences, University
of Gadarif
1
Chemically an acid is
defined as a potential
proton (H ) donor,
+

while a base is defined

as a potential proton
acceptor (Brosted-
Lowry).
2
Acetic Acid
CH3-COOH↔ CH3COO– + H+
Acetate ion and a proton.

Ammonium hydroxide
NH4OH ↔ NH4+ +OH-
Ammonium hydroxide is a
proton acceptor. 3
Water serves both as a
proton donor as well as
a proton acceptor. Thus
water is an amphoteric
compound (ampholyte
or amphiprotic).
4
H2O ↔OH- + H+ ; H2O + H+ ↔H3O+
water can behave as a base, it
combines with protons to form
hydronium (hydroxonium) ion.
(an oxonium ion) is any ion with
a trivalent oxygen cation.
hydronium ions are few and
short-lived.
5
 H2O+ H2O↔ OH− + H3O+
In this equation, one molecule of water acts as an acid, that
denotes a proton to another molecule of water acting as a
base.

In pure water, there is an equal

number of hydroxide and hydronium
ions, so it has a neutral pH of 7.
6
7
Acids are composed of conjugated
base & protons e.g
CH3-COOH↔CH3-COO-+ H+
conjugate pair.
Ammonia (NH3) in water is alkaline
as it accepts protons from water to
become ammonium ion:
NH3 +H2O↔NH4+ +OH-

8
 Dissociation of acids
1) Strong acids (all mineral
acids) are fully dissociated in
water. Eg. HCl→H+ +Cl-

HCl+ H2O ↔ H3O+ + Cl-

hydronium ion is very acidic in
nature and is equivalent to H+ .
9
2)Weak acids (all organic acids)
are partially dissociated eg:
CH3-COOH↔CH3-COO-+ H+

10
The dissociation of the weak acids
are governed by the following
equation

11
12
 Keq = [CH3-COO-] *[H+ ]
[CH3-COOH]

K is the dissociation constant.

13
Structure of H20

14
• Water comprises approx 70% of
human mass (45-60% intracellular,
25% extracellular/blood plasma).

• dipolar: partial negative charge on

oxygen, partial positive charge on
hydrogens

• dipolar nature leads to formation of

many low energy hydrogen bonds 15
 Dissociation of water
Water is the origin of hydrogen
ion H+ in living tissues. Water
contains 10-7 g of H+/L. This is
similar to its concentration in
biological fluids. The
concentration of OH- ions is also
10-7 g/L as the ration of H+ to
OH- is 1:1. 16
• H+ ion concentration is responsible
for the acidity while the OH- ion
concentration is responsible for the
alkalinity of solutions. In case if the
[H+] is greater than [OH-] then
solution is acidic & vice versa.
• In aqueous solution, the ion
product of [H+] *[OH-] should not
exceed 10-14 g/L of water.
17
 Summary of water and pH
relationship
• Very low dissociation of H2O to H+
or OH-

• The ion product of H2O, Keq X 55.5

M, leads to this: [H+] = [OH-] = 1 X
10-7 M for pure H2O which is a
constant in biological systems
18
• Therefore, if [H+] > 10-7 M, then
[OH ] must be less than 10 M,
- -7

and vice versa.

• Thus, if the negative logarithm
of [H+] is derived=
• pH = -log [H+] ,
• pure water would be pH = 7,
acids pH < 7, and bases pH > 7
19
pH Meter
21
Water Solubility / Hydrophilic

22
23
24
To calculate [H+], Sorensen has
invented the pH notation. This is
convenient, because it gets rid of
the negative power.

25
• pH means hydrogen power and is
defined as the negative logarithm to the
based of 10 of [H+] or activity.
pH= -log10 [H ]; +

the pH of water is equal -log10 10-7= 7.

• A pH value less than 7 indicates an
acidic solution, and a pH value
more than 7 indicates a basic
solution. 26
 The buffer solutions
• A buffer solution is one which is
resistant to change in pH on the
addition of small amount of acid or
alkali.
• A buffer is made up of a mixture of a
weak acid & its salt (CH3-COOH,
CH3-COONa), or a weak base & its
salt (NH4OH, NH4Cl) or a weak base
& a weak acid (NH4OH, CH3-COOH).
27
28
 Mechanism of buffer action
Taking the acetate buffer:
CH3-COOH↔[CH3-COO-]+ H+
is weakly ionized

CH3-COONa→ [CH3-COO-] + Na+

considerably better ionizes & gives
a high [CH3-COO-].

29
• If HCl is added to this buffer,
the HCl as strong ionizing acid
will tend to decrease the pH of
the buffer. But the acetate ions
of the buffer will combine with
the H+ & to give weak acetic
acid

30
• On the other hand, if a strongly
ionizing base like NaOH is
added to that buffer, it will
tends to increase, the buffer
pH. But the H+ ions of the buffer
will combine with OH groups of
the base to give water.

31
 Physiological Buffers
• Carbon Dioxide-Bicarbonate
System; a major regulator of blood
pH
• Phosphate System; major regulator
of cytosolic pH
• [CO2] and [HCO3] are much higher
than [PO4] in blood; the reverse is
true in the cytosol, [PO4] >>> [HCO3]
32
Examples-Physiological Buffers

33
34
35
36
 Blood Bicarbonate and Metabolic
Acidosis
• The bicarbonate blood buffer in a
normal adult maintains the blood
pH at about 7.40.
• If the blood pH drops below 7.35,
the condition is referred to as an
ACIDOSIS.

37
• A prolonged blood pH below 7.0
can lead to death. Clinically for an
acidosis, the acid-base parameters
(pH, [HCO3- ], [CO2] ) of the patients
blood should be monitored.

• The normal values for these are pH

= 7.40; [HCO3- ] = 24 mM; [CO2] =
1.2 mM.
38
Thank You

39