Proton affinity

Short description: Property of ions and molecules

Acids and bases

* Acid
* Acid–base reaction
* Acid strength
* Acidity function
* Amphoterism
* Base
* Buffer solutions
* Dissociation constant
* Equilibrium chemistry
* Extraction
* Hammett acidity function
* pH
* Proton affinity
* Self-ionization of water
* Titration
* Lewis acid catalysis
* Frustrated Lewis pair
* Chiral Lewis acid

Acid types

* Brønsted–Lowry
* Lewis
* Acceptor
* Mineral
* Organic
* Strong
* Superacids
* Weak
* Solid

Base types

* Brønsted–Lowry
* Lewis
* Donor
* Organic
* Strong
* Superbases
* Non-nucleophilic
* Weak

* v
* t
* e

The proton affinity (PA, Epa) of an anion or of a neutral atom or molecule is the negative of the enthalpy change in the reaction between the chemical species concerned and a proton in the gas phase:[1]

AA−+HA+⟶HA
B+HA+⟶BHA+

These reactions are always exothermic in the gas phase, i.e. energy is released (enthalpy is negative) when the reaction advances in the direction shown above, while the proton affinity is positive. This is the same sign convention used for electron affinity. The property related to the proton affinity is the gas-phase basicity, which is the negative of the Gibbs energy for above reactions,[2] i.e. the gas-phase basicity includes entropic terms in contrast to the proton affinity.

## Contents

* 1 Acid/base chemistry
* 2 Hydration
* 3 Difference from pKa
* 4 List of compound affinities
* 5 References

## Acid/base chemistry

The higher the proton affinity, the stronger the base and the weaker the conjugate acid in the gas phase. The (reportedly) strongest known base is the ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion (Epa = 1843 kJ/mol),[3] followed by the methanide anion (Epa = 1743 kJ/mol) and the hydride ion (Epa = 1675 kJ/mol),[4] making methane the weakest proton acid[5] in the gas phase, followed by dihydrogen. The weakest known base is the helium atom (Epa = 177.8 kJ/mol),[6] making the hydrohelium(1+) ion the strongest known proton acid.

## Hydration

Proton affinities illustrate the role of hydration in aqueous-phase Brønsted acidity. Hydrofluoric acid is a weak acid in aqueous solution (pKa = 3.15)[7] but a very weak acid in the gas phase (Epa (F−) = 1554 kJ/mol):[4] the fluoride ion is as strong a base as SiH3− in the gas phase, but its basicity is reduced in aqueous solution because it is strongly hydrated, and therefore stabilized. The contrast is even more marked for the hydroxide ion (Epa = 1635 kJ/mol),[4] one of the strongest known proton acceptors in the gas phase. Suspensions of potassium hydroxide in dimethyl sulfoxide (which does not solvate the hydroxide ion as strongly as water) are markedly more basic than aqueous solutions, and are capable of deprotonating such weak acids as triphenylmethane (pKa = ca. 30).[8][9]

To a first approximation, the proton affinity of a base in the gas phase can be seen as offsetting (usually only partially) the extremely favorable hydration energy of the gaseous proton (ΔE = −1530 kJ/mol), as can be seen in the following estimates of aqueous acidity:

Proton affinity | HHe+(g)  | →  | H+(g)  | \+ He(g)  | +178 kJ/mol  | [6] |  | HF(g)  | →  | H+(g)  | \+ F−(g)  | +1554 kJ/mol  | [4] |  | H2(g)  | →  | H+(g)  | \+ H−(g)  | +1675 kJ/mol  | [4]

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Hydration of acid | HHe+(aq)  | →  | HHe+(g)  |  | +973 kJ/mol  | [10] |  | HF(aq)  | →  | HF(g)  |  | +23 kJ/mol  | [7] |  | H2(aq)  | →  | H2(g)  |  | −18 kJ/mol  | [11]
Hydration of proton | H+(g)  | →  | H+(aq)  |  | −1530 kJ/mol  | [7] |  | H+(g)  | →  | H+(aq)  |  | −1530 kJ/mol  | [7] |  | H+(g)  | →  | H+(aq)  |  | −1530 kJ/mol  | [7]
Hydration of base | He(g)  | →  | He(aq)  |  | +19 kJ/mol  | [11] |  | F−(g)  | →  | F−(aq)  |  | −13 kJ/mol  | [7] |  | H−(g)  | →  | H−(aq)  |  | +79 kJ/mol  | [7]
Dissociation equilibrium | HHe+(aq) | → | H+(aq) | \+ He(aq) | −360 kJ/mol |  |  | HF(aq) | → | H+(aq) | \+ F−(aq) | +34 kJ/mol |  |  | H2(aq) | → | H+(aq) | \+ H−(aq) | +206 kJ/mol |
Estimated pKa | −63 |  | +6 |  | +36

These estimates suffer from the fact the free energy change of dissociation is in effect the small difference of two large numbers. However, hydrofluoric acid is correctly predicted to be a weak acid in aqueous solution and the estimated value for the pKa of dihydrogen is in agreement with the behaviour of saline hydrides (e.g., sodium hydride) when used in organic synthesis.

## Difference from pKa

Both proton affinity and pKa are measures of the acidity of a molecule, and so both reflect the thermodynamic gradient between a molecule and the anionic form of that molecule upon removal of a proton from it. Implicit in the definition of pKa however is that the acceptor of this proton is water, and an equilibrium is being established between the molecule and bulk solution. More broadly, pKa can be defined with reference to any solvent, and many weak organic acids have measured pKa values in DMSO. Large discrepancies between pKa values in water versus DMSO (i.e., the pKa of water in water is 14,[12][13] but water in DMSO is 32) demonstrate that the solvent is an active partner in the proton equilibrium process, and so pKa does not represent an intrinsic property of the molecule in isolation. In contrast, proton affinity is an intrinsic property of the molecule, without explicit reference to the solvent.

A second difference arises in noting that pKa reflects a thermal free energy for the proton transfer process, in which both enthalpic and entropic terms are considered together. Therefore, pKa is influenced both by the stability of the molecular anion, as well as the entropy associated of forming and mixing new species. Proton affinity, on the other hand, is not a measure of free energy.

## List of compound affinities

Proton affinities are quoted in kJ/mol, in increasing order of gas-phase basicity of the base.

Proton affinity[14]

Base | Affinity
(kJ/mol)
Neutral molecules
Helium | 178
Neon | 201
Argon | 371
Dioxygen | 422
Dihydrogen | 424
Krypton | 425
Hydrogen fluoride | 490
Dinitrogen | 495
Xenon | 496
Nitric oxide | 531
Carbon dioxide | 548
Methane | 552
Hydrogen chloride | 564
Hydrogen bromide | 569
Nitrous oxide | 571
Sulfur trioxide | 589[15]
Carbon monoxide | 594
Ethane | 601
Nitrogen trifluoride | 602
Hydrogen iodide | 628
Carbonyl sulfide | 632
Acetylene | 641
Arsenic trifluoride | 649
Silane | 649
Sulfur dioxide | 676
Hydrogen peroxide | 678
Ethylene | 680
Phosphorus trifluoride | 697
Water | 697
Carbon disulfide | 699
Phosphoryl trifluoride | 702
2,4-Dicarba-closo-heptaborane(7) | 703
Hydrogen sulfide | 712
Hydrogen selenide | 717
Hydrogen cyanide | 717
Formaldehyde | 718
Carbon monosulfide | 732
Cyanogen chloride | 735
Arsine | 750
Benzene | 759
Methanol | 761
Methanethiol | 784
Ethanol | 788
Acetonitrile | 788
Phosphine | 789
Nitrogen trichloride | 791
Ethanethiol | 798
Propanol | 798
Propane-1-thiol | 802
Hydroxylamine | 803
Dimethyl ether | 804
Glyceryl phosphite | 812
Borazine | 812
Acetone | 823
Diethyl ether | 838
Dimethyl sulfide | 839
Iron pentacarbonyl | 845
Ammonia | 854
Methylphosphine | 854
Hydrazine | 856
Diethyl sulfide | 858
1,6-Dicarba-closo-hexaborane(6) | 866
Aniline | 877
P(OCH2)3CCH3 | 877
Ferrocene | 877
Dimethyl sulfoxide | 884
Dimethyl formamide | 884
Trimethyl phosphate | 887
Trimethylarsine | 893
Methylamine | 896
Tri-O-methyl thiophosphate | 897
Dimethylphosphine | 905
Trimethyl phosphite | 923
Dimethylamine | 923
Pyridine | 924
Trimethylamine | 942
Trimethylphosphine | 950
Triethylphosphine | 969
Triethylamine | 972
Lithium hydroxide | 1008
Sodium hydroxide | 1038
Potassium hydroxide | 1100
Caesium hydroxide | 1125
Anions
Trioxophosphate(1−) | 1301
Iodide | 1315
Pentacarbonylmanganate(1−) | 1326
Trifluoroacetate | 1350
Bromide | 1354
Nitrate | 1358
Pentacarbonylrhenate(1−) | 1389
Chloride | 1395
Nitrite | 1415
Hydroselenide | 1417
Formate | 1444
Acetate | 1458
Phenoxide | 1470
Cyanide | 1477
Hydrosulfide | 1477
Cyclopentadienide | 1490
Ethanethiolate | 1495
Nitromethanide | 1501
Arsinide | 1502
Methanethiolate | 1502
Germanide | 1509
Trichloromethanide | 1515
Formylmethanide | 1533
Methylsulfonylmethanide | 1534
Anilide | 1536
Acetonide | 1543
Phosphinide | 1550
Silanide | 1554
Fluoride | 1554
Cyanomethanide | 1557
Propoxide | 1568
Acetylide | 1571
Trifluoromethanide | 1572
Ethoxide | 1574
Phenylmethanide | 1586
Methoxide | 1587
Hydroxide | 1635
Amide | 1672
Hydride | 1675
Methanide | 1743

## References

1. ↑ "Proton affinity." Compendium of Chemical Terminology.
2. ↑ "Gas-phase basicity." Compendium of Chemical Terminology.
3. ↑ Poad, Berwyck L. J.; Reed, Nicholas D.; Hansen, Christopher S.; Trevitt, Adam J.; Blanksby, Stephen J.; MacKay, Emily G.; Sherburn, Michael S.; Chan, Bun et al. (2016). "Preparation of an ion with the highest calculated proton affinity: ortho-diethynylbenzene dianion". Chem. Sci. 7 (9): 6245–6250. doi:10.1039/C6SC01726F. PMID 30034765.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Bartmess, J. E.; Scott, J. A.; McIver, R. T. (1979). "Scale of acidities in the gas phase from methanol to phenol". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 101 (20): 6046. doi:10.1021/ja00514a030. Bibcode: 1979JAChS.101.6046B.
5. ↑ The term "proton acid" is used to distinguish these acids from Lewis acids. It is the gas-phase equivalent of the term Brønsted acid.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lias, S. G.; Liebman, J. F.; Levin, R. D. (1984). Title J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data. 13':695.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Jolly, William L. (1991). Modern Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Edn.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-112651-1.
8. ↑ Jolly, William L (1967). "The intrinsic basicity of the hydroxide ion". J. Chem. Educ. 44 (5): 304. doi:10.1021/ed044p304. Bibcode: 1967JChEd..44..304J. http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/30d4j3gz.
9. ↑ Jolly, William L (1968). "σ-Methyl-π-Cyclopentadienylmolybdenum Tricarbonyl". Inorganic Syntheses. 11. p. 113. doi:10.1002/9780470132425.ch22. ISBN 9780470132425.
10. ↑ Estimated to be the same as for Li+(aq) → Li+(g).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Estimated from solubility data.
12. ↑ Meister, Erich C.; Willeke, Martin; Angst, Werner; Togni, Antonio; Walde, Peter (2014). "Confusing Quantitative Descriptions of Brønsted-Lowry Acid-Base Equilibria in Chemistry Textbooks – A Critical Review and Clarifications for Chemical Educators" (in en). Helvetica Chimica Acta 97 (1): 1–31. doi:10.1002/hlca.201300321. ISSN 1522-2675.
13. ↑ Silverstein, Todd P.; Heller, Stephen T. (2017-06-13). "pKa Values in the Undergraduate Curriculum: What Is the Real pKa of Water?". Journal of Chemical Education 94 (6): 690–695. doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00623. ISSN 0021-9584. Bibcode: 2017JChEd..94..690S.
14. ↑ Jolly, William L. (1991). Modern Inorganic Chemistry (2nd Edn.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-112651-1
15. ↑ Pommerening, Cynthia Ann; Bachrach, Steven M.; Sunderlin, Lee S. (1999). "Proton affinity of SO3". Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 10 (9): 856–861. doi:10.1016/S1044-0305(99)00055-0. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044030599000550.

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