Week 5 Achieve homework #6

[Jiayi_Cao_3E]

Hello!

The solution for this question explains that molecules with lone pairs of electrons can donate them and therefore can act as Lewis bases. It also says that CO2 has polar double bonds and therefore can accept electrons. I understand the reasoning behind each explanation but since CO2 also has lone pairs of electrons on the two oxygen atoms, can it also be a Lewis base and donate electrons?

[Chem_Mod]

CO2 is unlikely to act as a Lewis base despite having lone pairs on the oxygen atoms because donating those electrons would cause the O to become positively charged, which is quite unfavorable for such an electronegative element

[Paul Zhang 2F]

Hello! My understanding is that oxygen is far too electronegative for CO₂ to realistically donate electrons (and act as a Lewis base). If you take a look at https://ptable.com/#Properties/Electronegativity, only fluorine is more electronegative than oxygen. So it's technically possible for CO₂ to donate electrons, but it'd probably require a cursed setup with lots of fluorine gas. Let me know if you have more questions!

[Diana peng 3I]

Hello,
CO2 is a Lewis acid because it is able to accept electrons. the difference between Lewis acid and Lewis base is that, Lewis base donate electron, Lewis acid is the electron acceptor.
hope this can help