Acid Base Proton Transfer
[caption id="attachment_20220" align="alignright" width="440"] Acetic acid dissociation[/caption] The concepts contained in this article sound complex: acid base proton transfer. But they are a lot simpler than they sound. If a hydrogen atom Hº is ionized by stripping off its one electron, what remains is a proton. This small positive particle, symbol H⁺, is the heart of acid base proton transfer reactions. But That's Too Simple In water, the H⁺ ion does not exist as a naked proton. Rather, it is united with a molecule of water in the form of a stabilized hydronium ion (H₃O⁺). So in aqueous solutions, hydronium ions are the proton donors. Acid Base Proton Transfer Proton transfer acceptors, rather than being proton poor, are electron rich. Still, since acids are proton donors, it logically follows that…