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What Are Super Acids

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User Generated
Subject
Chemistry
Type
Homework
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What are super acids? How would you prepare them? What are their structures? What are
applications?
In the early 20
th
century, some researchers noted that sulfuric acid and perchloric acid formed
salts with various weak bases including ketones and other carboxyl compounds in the presence
of glacial acetic acid. However, the same weak bases failed to form salts while using aqueous
solutions of the same acids. The researchers then concluded that the increase in the ionization
power of these acids, and consequently the rise in their acidity, was due to glacial acetic acid.
Glacial acetic acid increases the concentration of
+
23
COOHCH
, which is a less solvated species
compared to
+
OH
3
in the aqueous acids.
Therefore, a superacid is any acid system which is greater in strength than 100% concentrated
sulfuric acid.
To prepare superacids, one requires a readily strong acid such as one with
10
o
H
and add it to
another highly-concentrated acid thus increasing the overall ionization power of the product.
That is achievable by adding a strong Bronsted Acid (HB) capable of ionizing in the medium.
+
++ BAHHBHA
2
Similarly, by adding a strong Lewis acid (L) to an already highly concentrated acid, we end up
forming a conjugate acid.
+
++ LAAHLHA
2
2
In the two methods of preparing superacids above, there was a noticeable increase in acidity
from
0
H
. It is this significant acidity jump of generally more than
0
5H
units, which raise a
strong solution into the superacid region.

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What are super acids? How would you prepare them? What are their structures? What are applications? In the early 20th century, some researchers noted that sulfuric acid and perchloric acid formed salts with various weak bases including ketones and other carboxyl compounds in the presence of glacial acetic acid. However, the same weak bases failed to form salts while using aqueous solutions of the same acids. The researchers then concluded that the increase in the ionization power of these acids, and consequently the rise in their acidity, was due to glacial acetic acid.  Glacial acetic aci ...
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