Acids, Bases, and the Nature of the Hydrogen Ion

Abstract

i HIS book is based on the lectures which I gave at Cornell Univer- sity as George Fisher Baker Non-resident Lecturer during 1958. I wish to express my warmest thanks to Professor F. A. Long and the other members of the Department of Chemistry for giving me this op- portunity and for their kindness and most helpful advice. Both my wife and I are also deeply indebted to the members of the Cornell branch of the Telluride Association for their hospitality in Telluride House and their stimulating company. The material in this book is largely complementary to that in Acid- Base Catalysis (Oxford, 1941). Many of the theses which were argued in some detail in the earlier book have now become generally accepted, and the kinetic evidence obtained from catalyzed reactions has been supplemented by direct studies of acid-base reactions using a variety of modern techniques. The relation between molecular structure and acid-base properties has received much attention during the last twenty years and is dealt with in Chapters VII and X. I have attempted in Chapter VI to give some account of recent work on concentrated solu- tions of acids, and had originally intended to add a chapter on reaction kinetics in these solutions; however, this was finally abandoned in view of the confused state of the subject at present. The final chapter is devoted to the hydrogen isotope effect in acid-base reactions, which, after a period of comparative neglect, has attracted a good deal of in- terest during the last few years. I have tried here to clarify the quantitative factors involved in the simplest cases rather than to re- view a large mass of experimental data. In conclusion, my best thanks are due to my wife for typing a large part of the book and for other assistance. R. P. BELL Balliol College Oxford May 1959