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Chapter 6: Problem 17

What is HSAB principle? What are its applications?

Short Answer

Expert verified
HSAB is Hard and Soft Acids and Bases principle. It was developed to help chemists understand and predict the direction of reactions, stability of compounds and reaction mechanisms. It has applications in various chemical phenomena like solubility, metal-complex bond formations, toxicity of heavy metals, etc.

Step by step solution

01

Understand HSAB Principle

The HSAB Principle is an acronym for Hard and Soft (Lewis) Acids and Bases. It was developed by Ralph Pearson in 1963. According to this principle, hard acids prefer to bind to hard bases and soft acids tend to bind with soft bases. 'Hard' typically refers to substances which are small, have high charge states, and are weakly polarizable. 'Soft' typically refers to substances that are large, have lower charge states, and are highly polarizable. It's a useful principle in predicting reaction direction.
02

Understand Applications of HSAB Principle

HSAB principle has various applications in chemistry including predicting reaction directions, explaining stability of compounds, and determining reaction mechanisms. It can help decide which reactions are likely to take place in a chemical process. It can also be used to explain the toxicity of heavy metals, where softer metals show more toxicity because they bind more easily with the soft bases in the body. It can also explain various chemical phenomena like solubility and metal-complex bond formation.

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