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The Brönsted Equation—Its First Half-Century

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Correlation Analysis in Chemistry

Abstract

It is now just over 50 years since the Brönsted relation† between catalytic power and acid-base strength was proposed. Since then it has been very widely used, and constitutes the first example of a linear free energy relationship, a term that was not introduced until considerably later: In fact, the Brönsted equation preceded by some ten years the sigma-rho correlations introduced by Hammett and often regarded as the first example of this type of relationship.1 Further, there has recently been a revival of interest in the Brönsted equation in connection with reaction mechanisms and molecular pictures of kinetic processes. A review of the way in which our knowledge and interpretation of this relation have developed may therefore be of interest.

The erratum of this chapter is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8831-3_12

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  1. Department of Chemistry, The University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland

    R. P. Bell

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Bell, R.P. (1978). The Brönsted Equation—Its First Half-Century. In: Chapman, N.B., Shorter, J. (eds) Correlation Analysis in Chemistry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8831-3_2

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