lewis acids & bases

[Alyssa Bryan 3F]

I know that lewis acids accept electrons while lewis bases donate electrons, but how can you determine whether the species is able to accept or donate the electron pairs? Do you have to draw the lewis structures to determine this?

[May Xiao 1H]

It's always helpful to draw the Lewis dot structure, and then determine which one is lewis acid/base. Also, a quick way is to memorize the common lewis acids and bases. Such as acids: NH4+, H3O+, Fe3+ / bases: NH3, H2O, CH3-

[Ethan Yi 1K]

if you draw out the lewis structure, you can see if there is a lone pair which would allow a molecule to act as a base, or the opposite for an acid where you can see if there is room for another pair

[905096106]

Lone pairs on lewis structures determine whether or not a molecule can donate an electron pair/is a lewis acid.