Organic Chemistry I

Both the Arrhenius and Brønsted‐Lowry theories of acids and bases define an acid as a hydrogen ion (proton) donor. In the Lewis theory, a base is any substance that can donate a pair of electrons to another compound. An acid then becomes any compound capable of accepting a pair of electrons from another substance. This theory greatly increases the number of chemicals considered to be acids and bases. For example, the reaction of boron trifluoride, BF ₃, with dimethyl ether, CH ₃OCH ₃, is an acid‐base reaction.