Donor and Acceptor

[Mansi_1D]

I'm confused when an acid is a proton donor or acceptor. On one of the lecture slides it said Lewis bases are proton donors and Lewis acids are acceptors. However, then in the next lecture, for the descriptions of acids, it said acids are proton donors. So is there a difference between Lewis bases & acids and just normal bases and acids?

[claudia_1h]

The difference is between when you are talking about the species accepting/donating a proton or an electron. That is the difference between the Bronsted-Lowry definition of acids and bases versus the Lewis definition. In Lewis, acids are ELECTRON acceptors, whereas in Bronsted-Lowry, acids are PROTON donors. The two concepts go hand in hand.

[Nare Arakelian Dis 3E]

I was confused on this too, thank you!

[ashwathinair]

Im pretty sure Lewis acids and bases are the same as regular acida dn bases. Lewis acids are proton donors and electron acceptors; lewis bases are proton acceptors and electron donors.

[IScarvie 1E]

It confused me too, I tend to remember it by thinking that bases usually go from a relatively negative charge to a relatively positive one (by donating a lone pair or accepting a proton) and acids do the opposite

[Mitchell Koss 4G]

Since electrons are negative and protons are positive the relationship can become confused but drawing a diagram can help

[Ryan Juncker 3D]

Lewis acids and bases are the same as regular acids and bases and can be defined using mostly the pH scale. The difference is in whether you are using the Lewis definition or the Bronsted definition of acids and bases. In the Lewis definition acids are electron acceptors; however, in the Bronsted definition acids are classifies and proton donors.