HSAB theory

Chemical theory about acids and bases

HSAB is an acronym for "hard and soft (Lewis) acids and bases". HSAB is widely used in chemistry for explaining the stability of compounds, reaction mechanisms and pathways. It assigns the terms 'hard' or 'soft', and 'acid' or 'base' to chemical species. 'Hard' applies to species which are small, have high charge states, and are weakly polarizable. 'Soft' applies to species which are big, have low charge states and are strongly polarizable.

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