The solvent effect on the acidities of haloacetic acids in aqueous solution. A RISM-SCF study

The acidities of acetic, fluoracetic and chloroacetic acids in aqueous solution are calculated by means of the ab initio method combined with the reference interaction site method in the statistical mechanics of molecular liquids (the RISM-SCF method). The inversion in the order of acidities experimentally observed when a series of haloacetic acids is immersed into aqueous solution is reproduced. It is shown that the inversion is caused by competition between substitution and solvation effects. The solvation effect is discussed in molecular detail in terms of the charge distribution of the solute and the solute-solvent radial distribution functions.