Hard and Soft Acid-Base Behavior in Aqueous Solution: Steric Effects Make Some Metal Ions Hard: A Quantitative Scale of Hardness-Softness for Acids and Bases
Robert D. Hancock and Arthur E. Martell
Departments of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS 2050 Johannesburg, South Africa
The idea of hard and Soft Acids and Bases (HSAB), developed by R. G. Pearson some 30 years ago, has been used as a unifying principle in several texts. In spite of this, HSAB has remained qualitative and largely intuitive. In this article, the behaviour of HSAB in aqueous solution is addressed. A quantitative scale of hardness-softness for acids and bases is presented also.
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Citation
Robert D. Hancock and Arthur E. Martell. J. Chem. Educ.1996 73 654.
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