Hydron (chemistry)

In chemistry, hydron is the general name for the positive hydrogen H⁺ cation.

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Hydron is the name for positive hydrogen ions without regard to nuclear mass, or positive ions formed from natural hydrogen (hydrogen that has not been subjected to isotope separation).

Traditionally, the term "proton" was and is used in place of "hydron", by itself and in many chemical terms. However, such usage is technically incorrect, as only 99.999% of natural hydrogen nuclei are protons; the rest are deuterons and rare tritons.

Hydron was defined by IUPAC in 1988.^[1][2]

The negatively-charged counterpart of the hydron is the hydride anion, H^-.

Specific varieties of hydron

Proton, having the symbol p or ¹H⁺, refers only to the +1 ion of protium, ¹H.

Deuteron, having the symbol ²H⁺ or D⁺, refers only to the +1 ion of deuterium, ²H or D.

Triton, having the symbol ³H⁺ or T⁺, refers only to the +1 ion of tritium, ³H or T.

See also

• Hydrogen ion

References

1. ^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. "hydron". Compendium of Chemical Terminology Internet edition.
2. ^ Bunnet, J.F.; Jones, R.A.Y. (1968). "Names for hydrogen atoms, ions, and groups, and for reactions involving them (Recommendations 1988)". Pure Appl. Chem. 60 (7): 1115-6.