Are All Bronsted-Lowry Acids Also Lewis Acids?

[jen333]

[SOLVED] Acid/Base Theory

hi! verification please!

Not all lewis acids are bronsted-lowry acids. but bronstred-lowry acids are lewis acids?

thanks.

 

[eli64]

true.
Lewis acids are electron pair acceptors - CO2 is a Lewis acid - can accept a pair of electrons from O on OH-, HCl is a Lewis acid - it can accept a pair of electrons from O on OH-;
B-L acids are proton donor - HCl is a proton donor but CO2 is not a proton donor

 

[ravenprp]

Hi there,

Yes, that is correct. All Bronsted-Lowry acids are also Lewis acids, but not all Lewis acids are Bronsted-Lowry acids. This is because the Bronsted-Lowry theory focuses on the transfer of protons (H+ ions) while the Lewis theory focuses on the acceptance or donation of electron pairs. So, a substance can be a Lewis acid if it accepts an electron pair, but it may not necessarily be a Bronsted-Lowry acid if it does not involve a proton transfer.

Hope this helps!