Definition of acids 2 - Introduction to Lewis Acids

 Hello fam! Welcome to today’s lesson. We started to look at the concept of acid definition in yesterday’s lesson. We saw yesterday that acids have been defined by Arrhenius and BrØnsted – Lowry. The Arrhenius definition is limited in the sense that it does not account for behavior of acids in nonaqueous media.


Did you try the assignment yesterday? The answers are attached to this post. I believe that the concept of proton donation is now clear to you after looking at the images attached. Reach out to me if you have any challenge.


Now let us talk about the Lewis definition of acids. This definition of acids was put out by G. N Lewis in 1923. There is a foundation that we need in order to have an understanding of the idea that was put forward by Lewis. 


There is something called an orbital in an atom. It is a region in space where there is a high probability of finding the electron. Now let us assume that your office is at No.38 Bronx street. I may not find you everywhere in the compound at No. 38 Bronx street. 


Let’s again assume that you have your office at the eight floor of the building. There could be a total of fifteen rooms on the 8th floor of the building. Your office is located in one of these 15 rooms but I don’t know what room exactly that your office occupies.


Let’s assume that I come looking for you at No.38 Bronx Street and I continue to wander around the compound shouting; “Is Mr. Smith here?” Do you think that I would find you? I am most likely just engaged in an effort in futility. I would fool around the compound and go home when I am tired of fooling around. 


What if I am armed with specific information that the office of Mr. Smith is on the 8th  floor at No.38 Bronx Street? Do you think my search for Mr. Smith is more likely to be successful? I believe that you already know the answer.


The orbital tells us where we are most likely to find the electron. The position of the electron can not be determined for sure according to the Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle but the wave mechanical model of Schrodinger opines that we are more likely to find the electrons in specific regions of space called orbitals. We shall reserve more detailed discussion into the concept of orbitals for a later time.


With these basics in mind, I want us to know that a Lewis acid must have an atom that possesses an EMPTY ORBITAL. This implies that there must be an orbital in a Lewis acid that does not contain an electron. 


Why is this so important in a Lewis acid? We shall find out more about that tomorrow. Hope the lessons are making sense? Stay tuned for more!


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