Why Lewis Acid?

[Adam Kramer 1A]

Why is an atom that donates a pair of electrons known as a Lewis base, and vice versa with the Lewis acid, and why does it matter?

[Rebecca Epner 4A]

In general, bases donate electrons while acids accept electrons

[Julianna Laurentano 4G]

According to Lewis, acids accept pairs of electrons while bases donate them. Using H2O as an example, Lewis said that the H+ is the atom that actively accepts electrons from OH-, forming H2O.

[Hussain Chharawalla 1G]

If it helps, I like to think of it as a modified version of the Bronsted Lowry acid and base idea. In the bronsted definition, an acid donates a hydrogen proton and a base accepts a hydrogen proton. Without a proton, you are left with an electron. The Lewis definition allows you to broaden and apply that definition with molecules that don't contain hydrogen.