Chemistry:Protic solvent

Short description: Solvent containing an H+ ion

In chemistry, a protic solvent is a solvent that has a hydrogen atom bound to an oxygen (as in a hydroxyl group –OH), a nitrogen (as in an amine group –NH
2 or –NH–), or fluoride (as in hydrogen fluoride). In general terms, any solvent that contains a labile H+
is called a protic solvent. The molecules of such solvents readily donate protons (H+
) to solutes, often via hydrogen bonding. Water is the most common protic solvent. Conversely, polar aprotic solvents cannot donate protons but still have the ability to dissolve many salts.

Methods for purification of common solvents are available

Solvent	Chemical formula	Boiling point	Dielectric constant	Density	Dipole moment (D)
Polar protic solvents
formic acid	HCO 2H	101 °C	58	1.21 g/mL	1.41 D
n-butanol	CH 3CH 2CH 2CH 2OH	118 °C	18	0.810 g/mL	1.63 D
isopropanol (IPA)	(CH 3) 2CH(OH)	82 °C	18	0.785 g/mL	1.66 D
nitromethane	CH 3NO 2	101°C	35.87	1.1371 g/mL	3.56 D
ethanol (EtOH)	CH 3CH 2OH	79 °C	24.55	0.789 g/mL	1.69 D
methanol (MeOH)	CH 3OH	65 °C	33	0.791 g/mL	1.70 D
Acetic acid (AcOH)	CH 3CO 2H	118 °C	6.2	1.049 g/mL	1.74 D
Water	H 2O	100 °C	80	1.000 g/mL	1.85 D

See also

• Autoprotolysis