sulfur dioxide

[reva_bajjuri]

can someone explain why sulfur acts as a lewis acid and not a lewis base since there is a lone pair on the lewis structure. i know that nonmetal oxides are lewis acids but I'm still confused

[Eva Becker]

Sulfur acts as a lewis acid in this molecule because of the high electronegativity of the oxygens it is bound to. As the oxygens hog the electrons, sulfur becomes partially positively charged, allowing it to be an electron acceptor (lewis acid).

[shevanti_kumar_1E]

SO2 is a nonmetal oxide that reacts with water to form sulfurous acid (H2SO3). You know its a lewis acid because when it interacts with water it acts as electron pair acceptor.

[David Y]

Metal oxides are acids