Justify the statement: all brønsted-lowry bases are also potential lewis bases

Justify the statement: all brønsted-lowry bases are also potential lewis bases, but all Bronsted acids are not Lewis acids.

Answer:

(i) All Bronsted bases are also Lewis bases: According to Bronsted concept, the base is a substance which accepts a proton. According to Lewis concept, a base is a substance which can donate a pair of electron. Any substance which can donate a pair of an electron can easily accept a proton.

Thus all Bronsted bases are all Lewis bases.

(ii) All Bronsted acids are not Lewis acids: According to Bronsted concept, an acid is a substance that can donate a proton (H+). According to Lewis concept, an acid is any substance (molecule or ion) which can accept a pair of electrons from another substance to form a coordinate bond. HCl, H2SO4 are Bronsted acids because they can donate protons, but they cannot accept a pair of electrons to form a coordinate bond, therefore, they are not Lewis acids. Thus all Bronsted acids are not Lewis acids.

 

all brønsted-lowry bases are also potential lewis bases

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