Erica Wanless

Dec 19, 2024 | pubs.rsc.org | Erica Wanless

The inductive effect does not explain electron density in haloacetates: Are our textbooks wrong? The inductive effect is a central concept in chemistry and is often exemplified by the pKa values of acetic acid derivatives. The reduction in pKa is canonically attributed to the electron density of the carboxylate group being reduced through the inductive effect.

Jun 24, 2024 | pubs.rsc.org | Alister J. Page |Kasimir P. Gregory |Erica Wanless |Grant Bruce Webber

A First-Principles Alternative to Empirical Solvent Parameters The use of solvents is ubiquitous in chemistry. Empirical parameters, such as the Kamlet-Taft parameters and Gutmann donor/acceptor numbers, have long been used to predict and quantify the effects solvents have on chemical phenomena. Collectively however, such parameters are unsatisfactory, since each describes ultimately the same non-covalent solute-solvent and solute-solute interactions in completely disparate ways.