Inorganic Chemistry Question: Identify each molecule, A and B, as an Lewis Acid
ID: 775850 • Letter: I
Question
Inorganic Chemistry Question:
Identify each molecule, A and B, as an Lewis Acid or a Lewis Base. Is molecule A hard or soft? Is Molecule B hard or soft? Please explain why the acid or base is hard or soft using the molecular orbital diagram. Please explain your answer in detail because I do not know how to solve this.
My Guesses: I think Molecule A is a Lewis Base, and Molecule B is a Lewis Acid. Although I do not know how to identify the acid and base as hard or soft. I also know hard acids react with hard bases and soft acids react with soft bases.
Inorganic Chemistry Question: Identify each molecule, A and B, as an Lewis Acid or a Lewis Base. Is molecule A hard or soft? Is Molecule B hard or soft? Please explain why the acid or base is hard or soft using the molecular orbital diagram. Please explain your answer in detail because I do not know how to solve this. My Guesses: I think Molecule A is a Lewis Base, and Molecule B is a Lewis Acid. Although I do not know how to identify the acid and base as hard or soft. I also know hard acids react with hard bases and soft acids react with soft bases.Explanation / Answer
In molecule A, the central atom has an octet(8 electrons) around it- 3 bond pairs and lone pair. Due to the availability of lone pair electrons, molecule A is a lewis base.
In molecule B, the central atom has only 6 electrons around it. It has incomplete octet. Hence, molecule B is a lewis acid( it can accept electrons to attain octet).
According to HSAB theory:
From the molecular orbital diagram, we observe that HOMO of molecule A is of high energy whereas HOMO of molecule B is low. This suggests that molecule A is a soft base and molecule B is a soft acid.