6/26/2019

Acids and Bases

Acids
• An acid is a substance that can donate hydrogen ions
(H+) in aqueous solution (Bronsted-Lowry acid).

• An acid is a a substance that produces H3O+ (H +) ions

in aqueous solution (Arrhenius acid).

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H2 O(l) + HCl(aq) +
H3 O (aq) + Cl- (aq)

conjugate acid-base pair

conjugate acid-base pair

HCl(aq) + H2 O(l) Cl- (aq) +

+
H3 O ( aq)
Hydrogen Water Chloride Hydronium
chloride ion ion
(acid) (base) (conjugate (conjugate
base of HCl) acid of water)

• Strong acids are those that are completely

ionized in body fluids, and weak acids are those
that are incompletely ionized in body fluids.

CH3 COOH(aq) + H2 O( l) CH3 COO-( aq) + H3 O+ ( aq)

Acetic acid Acetate ion

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Bases
• A base is a substance that can accept a proton (H+) in
aqueous solution (Bronsted-Lowry base).

• A base is a a substance that produces OH- ions in

aqueous solution (Arrhenius base).

• Strong base is one that reacts completely or

almost completely with water to form OH- ions.
Weak base is a substance that dissociates only
partially in water to produce OH- ions.

H2 O Na+ (aq) -
NaOH(s) + OH (aq)

NH3 ( aq) + H2 O(l)

+
NH4 ( aq) + OH- (aq)

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Conjugate
Acid Name of acid Base Name of ion
-
Strong HI Hydroiodic acid I Iodide Weak
Acids HCl Hydrochloric acid Cl
-
Chloride Bases
-
H2 SO4 Sulfuric acid HSO4 Hydrogen sulfate
-
HNO3 Nitric acid NO3 Nitrate
+
H3 O Hydronium ion H2 O Water
- 2-
HSO4 Hydrogen sulfate ion SO4 Sulfate
-
H3 PO4 Phosphoric acid H2 PO4 Dihydrogen phosphate
-
CH 3 COOH Acetic acid CH 3 COO Acetate
-
H2 CO3 Carbonic acid HCO3 Bicarbonate
-
H2 S Hydrogen sulfide HS Hydrogen sulfide
- 2-
H2 PO4 Dihydrogen phosphate HPO4 Hydrogen phosphate
+
NH4 Ammonium ion NH3 Ammonia
-
HCN Hydrocyanic acid CN Cyanide
-
C6 H 5 OH Phenol C6 H 5 O Phenoxide
- 2-
HCO3 Bicarbonate ion CO3 Carbonate
2- 3-
HPO4 Hydrogen phosphate ion PO4 Phosphate
-
Weak H2 O Water OH Hydroxide Strong
-
Acids C2 H 5 OH Ethanol C2 H 5 O Ethoxide Bases

• In body fluids, the concentration of hydrogen

ions (H+) is maintained within very narrow limits,
with the normal physiologic concentration being
40 nEq/L.
- +
H2 CO3 + H2 O HCO3 + H3 O
Carbonic Bicarbonate
acid ion

HCO3 - + H2 O CO3 2 - + H3 O+
Bicarbonate Carbonate
ion ion

• The physiological concentration of HCO3- is 24 mEq/L.

It is 600,000 times that of [H+]. The tight regulation
of [H+] at this low concentration is crucial for normal
cellular activities.

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Properties of Acids & Bases

• Neutralization
• Acids and bases react with each other in a process
called neutralization

• Reaction with metals

• Strong acids react with certain metals (called active
metals) to produce a salt and hydrogen gas, H2
Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) MgCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)
Magnesium Hydrochloric Magnesium Hydrogen
acid chloride

• Reaction of a strong acid with a metal is a redox

reaction; the metal is oxidized to a metal ion and H+ is
reduced to H2.

Properties of Acids & Bases

• Reaction with metal hydroxides
• Reaction of an acid with a metal hydroxide gives
a salt plus water;
HCl(aq) + KOH( aq) KCl(aq) + H2 O
Hydrochloric Potassium Potassium Water
acid hydroxide chloride

• Reaction with metal oxides

• Strong acids react with metal oxides to give water
plus a salt:
+
2 H3 O (aq) + CaO( s) 2+
3 H2 O(l) + Ca ( aq)
Calcium
oxide

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Properties of Acids & Bases

• Reaction with carbonates and bicarbonates
• strong acids react with carbonates to give carbonic
acid, which rapidly decomposes to CO2 and H2O:

2 H3 O (aq) + CO3 (aq) H2 CO3 (aq) + 2 H2 O(l)

+ 2-

H2 CO3 (aq) CO2 (g) + H2 O( l)

2 H3 O (aq) + CO3 (aq) CO2 (g) + 3 H2 O(l)

+ 2-

• strong acids react similarly with bicarbonates:

H3 O+ ( aq) + HCO3 -( aq) H2 CO3 (aq) + H2 O( l)
H2 CO3 (aq) CO2 (g) + H2 O( l)

H3 O+ ( aq) + HCO3 -( aq) CO2 (g) + 2 H2 O(l)

Properties of Acids & Bases

• Reaction with ammonia and amines
• Any acid stronger than NH4+ is strong enough to react
with NH3 to give a salt.
• In the following reaction, the salt formed is
ammonium chloride, which is shown as it would be
ionized in aqueous solution:

HCl( aq) + NH 3 (aq) NH4 + ( aq) + Cl- (aq)

• Amines are compounds in which one or more

hydrogens of NH3 are replaced by carbon groups.
CH3 NH3 (aq) + Cl ( aq)
+ -
HCl(aq) + CH3 NH2 (aq)
Methylamine Methylammonium
ion

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Significance of pH
• Specific tautomeric form exist at physiologic pH. This
helps in proper hydrogen bonding between the
complementary base pairs in the structure of DNA.

• The biologic activity of a protein depends upon its 3D

structure and that depends upon net charge on protein
for the maintenance of hydrogen and ionic interactions.
The net charge depends upon the pH of the medium.

• The movement of ions across the membrane depends

upon their net charge as determined by the pH

Significance of pH
• All enzymes function best within an optimum pH range.

• Nerve conduction and muscle contraction are also pH

dependent

• All metabolic processes are pH dependent.

• Oxygen and CO2 transport, release or gaseous exchange

is pH dependent.

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Maintenance of pH

• Important for proper physiological functioning

of cells and tissues.

• Any changes in pH can alter enzyme activity,

cellular uptake , incorporation and use of
minerals and metabolites, uptake and release
of oxygen, and he formation of biological
structural components

Normal plasma pH
• The pH range that is compatible with life is from 6.8 to
7.8.

• The body can comfortably tolerate a shift in pH of

about 0.04.

• Most cells of the body have a pH = 7.0, biut RBC’s boast

a pH of 7.2.

• The pH of the body affects its acid-base balance and

the pH of blood has the greatest effect.

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Sources for pH disturbances

• Organic acids
The most common sources for pH disturbances
are the body’s production of organic acids (acetic,
acetoacetate, propionic, butyric, lactic, etc.), which are
major sources of hydrogen ion.

• Carbonic acid is the chief acid produced in the

body by the metabolic processes in the body.
Approximately 300 litres of CO2 are produced and
eliminated daily in the body of an adult.

Sources for pH disturbances

• Sulfuric acid
It is produced during the oxidation of sulfur-
containing amino acids and vitamins.

• Phosphoric acid
It is produced from the metabolism of dietary
phosphoproteins, phospholipids, nucleic acids and
hydrolysis of phosphoesters

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Mechanism of maintenance of
physiological pH
• Under normal conditions, acids and, to a lesser extent,
bases are being added constantly to the extracellular
fluid compartment but still a physiologic [H+] of 40 nEq/L
is maintained and the following processes must take
place:

Buffering by extracellular and intracellualr buffers

Alveolar ventilation, which controls PaCO2
Renal H+ excretion, which controls plasma [HCO3-]

pH Buffers
• Buffers are solutions that resist change in pH when
limited amounts of acid or base are added to them.

• They are weak acids or bases that are able to

minimize changes in pH by taking up or releasing H+.

• They are often called as “shock absorber”. They work

as a first-line of defense to blunt the changes in pH
that would otherwise result from daily addition of
acids and bases to body fluids.

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pH Buffers

• The most common buffers consist of approximately

equal molar amounts of a weak acid and a salt of the
weak acid; that is, approximately equal molar
amounts of a weak acid and a salt of its conjugate
base.

• For example, if we dissolve 1.0 mole of acetic acid and

1.0 mole of its conjugate base (in the form of sodium
acetate) in water, we have an acetate buffer.

pH Buffers
• The effect of a buffer can be quite dramatic

• Consider a phosphate buffer prepared by dissolving

0.10 mole of NaH2PO4 (a weak acid) and 0.10 mole of
Na2HPO4 (the salt of its conjugate base) in enough
water to make 1 liter of solution.

pH after pH after
addition of addition of
pH 0.010 mole HCl 0.010 mole NaOH
water 7.0 2.0 12.0
0.10 M phosphate buffer 7.21 7.12 7.30

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pH Buffers
Added as Added as
CH3COOH CH3COO-Na+
CH3 COOH + H2 O
- +
CH3 COO + H3 O

• How does an acetate buffer resists changes in pH?

• If we add a strong acid, such as HCl, added H3O+ ions
react with acetate ions and are removed from solution:
CH3 COO- + H3 O+ CH3 COOH + H2 O

• If we add a strong base, such as NaOH, added OH- ions

react with acetic acid and are removed from solution:
CH3 COO + H2 O
-
CH3 COOH + OH-

Blood Buffers
• The average pH of human blood is 7.4.
• any change greater than 0.10 pH unit in either direction
can cause illness.

• To maintain this pH, the body uses three buffer

systems:
• carbonate buffer: H2CO3 and its conjugate base, HCO3-
• phosphate buffer: H2PO4- and its conjugate base, HPO42-
• proteins:

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Biochemical Buffers
• Typical Good buffers are:

Conjugate acid Name Base pKa

( H OCH 2 ) 3 CN H3 + N-tris[Hydroxymethyl]aminomethane( H OCH 2 ) 3 CN H2
(TRIS)
+ 8.3
TRIS-H TRIS

N-tris[hydroxymethyl]methyl-2-
( H OCH 2 ) 3 CN H2 CH2 CH2 SO 3 - aminosulfonate (TES) ( H OCH 2 ) 3 CN HCH2 CH2 SO 3 -
TES-H+ TES 7.35
(Zwitterionic form)

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