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Ab initio procedure for aqueous-phase pK a calculation: The acidity of nitrous acid
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Ab initio procedure for aqueous-phase pK a calculation: The acidity of nitrous acid

G. da Silva, E.M. Kennedy and B.Z. Dlugogorski
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.110(39), pp.11371-11376
2006
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jp0639243
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Abstract

We present an ab initio procedure for accurately calculating aqueous-phase pK a values and apply it to study the acidity of nitrous acid (HNO 2, or HONO). The aqueous-phase pK a of nitrous acid was obtained from calculated gas-phase acidities and solvation free energies via a thermodynamic cycle and the solvation model chemistry of Barone et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 1997, 107, 3210). Solvation free energies were calculated at the HF/6-31G(d) level using the dielectric-polarizable continuum and the integral equation formalism-polarizable continuum solvent models (D-PCM and IEF-PCM, respectively), with the D-PCM model yielding the most accurate pK a values. For HF free energies of solvation, significant improvements in accuracy could be made by moving to the larger 6-311++G(3df,3pd) and aug-cc-pVQZ basis sets. Solvation free energies were also calculated using the density functional theory (DFT) methods B3LYP, TPSS, PBE0, B1B95, VSXC, B98 and O3LYP, with the most accurate methods being TPSS and VSXC, which provided average errors of less than 0.11 pK a units. Solvation free energies calculated with the different DFT methods were relatively insensitive to the basis set used. Our theoretical calculations are compared with experimental results obtained using stopped flow spectrophotometry. The pK a of nitrous acid was measured as 3.16 at 25°C, and the enthalpy and entropy of nitrous acid dissociation were calculated from measurements as 6.7 kJ mol -1 and -38.4 J mol -1 K -1, respectively, between 25 and 45°C. The UV/visible absorption spectra of the nitrite ion and nitrous acid were also examined, and molar extinction coefficients were obtained for each.

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Citation topics
2 Chemistry
2.15 Physical Chemistry
2.15.3 Quantum Chemistry
Web Of Science research areas
Chemistry, Physical
Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical
ESI research areas
Chemistry
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