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hydronium

Structure via PubChem · Public domain (PubChem)

EntityQ849881· pop 44· linked from 228 articles

Also known as hydroxonium, H3O(+), [OH3](+), hydronium cation, hydronium ion, oxonium, hydrogen, proton

In chemistry, hydronium (hydroxonium in traditional British English) is the cation , also written as , the type of oxonium ion produced by protonation of water. It is often viewed as the positive ion present when an Arrhenius acid is dissolved in water, as Arrhenius acid molecules in solution give up a proton (a positive hydrogen ion, ) to the surrounding water molecules (). In fact, acids must be surrounded by more than a single water molecule in order to ionize, yielding aqueous and conjugate base.

Chemical data

Formula
H3O+
Molecular weight
19.023 g/mol
IUPAC name
hydron;hydrate
SMILES
[H+].O
InChIKey
XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-O
Polar surface area
1 Ų
H-bond donors
2
H-bond acceptors
1
Formal charge
1

via PubChem

Wikidata facts

Mass
19.01839
Show 4 more facts
Commons category
Hydronium ion
canonical SMILES
[OH3+]
pKa
0.00
chemical formula
H₃O⁺
Sources (3)

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~15 min read

Article

12 sections
Contents
  • Relation to pH
  • Nomenclature
  • Structure
  • Acids and acidity
  • Solvation
  • Solid hydronium salts
  • Interstellar H<sub>3</sub>O<sup>+</sup>
  • Interstellar chemistry
  • Astronomical detections
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

In chemistry, hydronium (hydroxonium in traditional British English) is the cation , also written as , the type of oxonium ion produced by protonation of water. It is often viewed as the positive ion present when an Arrhenius acid is dissolved in water, as Arrhenius acid molecules in solution give up a proton (a positive hydrogen ion, ) to the surrounding water molecules (). In fact, acids must be surrounded by more than a single water molecule in order to ionize, yielding aqueous and conjugate base.

Three main structures for the aqueous proton have garnered experimental support: the Eigen cation, which is a tetrahydrate, H3O+(H2O)3 the Zundel cation, which is a symmetric dihydrate, H+(H2O)2 and the Stoyanov cation, an expanded Zundel cation, which is a hexahydrate: H+(H2O)2(H2O)4

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