This book is intended as a practical manual for chemists, biologists and others whose work requires the use of pH or metal-ion buffers. Much information on buffers is scattered throughout the literature and it has been our endeavour to select data and instructions likely to be helpful in the choice of suitable buffer substances and for the preparation of appropriate solutions. For details of pH measurement and the preparation of standard acid and alkali solutions the reader is referred to a companion volume, A. Albert and E. P. Serjeant's The Determination of Ionization Constants (1971). Although the aims of the book are essentially practical, it also deals in some detail with those theoretical aspects considered most helpful to an understanding of buffer applications. We have cast our net widely to include pH buffers for particular purposes and for measurements in non-aqueous and mixed solvent systems. In recent years there has been a significant expansion in the range of available buffers, particularly for biological studies, largely in conse quence of the development of many zwiUerionic buffers by Good et al. (1966). These are described in Chapter 3.

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1. Introduction.- 1.1 The concept of buffer action.- 1.2 Why are buffers needed?.- 1.3 Some naturally occurring buffers.- 2. The Theory of Buffer Action.- 2.1 Equilibrium aspects.- 2.2 Activity effects.- 2.3 Effect of dilution.- 2.4 Salt effects.- 2.5 Ampholytes and zwitterions.- 2.6 Buffer capacity.- 2.7 Pseudo buffers.- 2.8 Self buffers.- 2.9 Mixtures of buffers.- 2.10 Temperature dependence.- 2.11 Effect of pressure on buffers.- 2.12 Further reading.- 3. Applications of pH Buffers.- 3.1 Factors governing the choice of a buffer.- 3.2 Measurement of pH.- 3.3 Biochemistry and biology.- 3.4 Spectroscopy.- 3.5 Buffers for special applications.- 4. Practical Limitations in the Use of Buffers.- 4.1 Chemical problems.- 4.2 Biological effects.- 4.3 Influence on chemical reactions.- 5. New pH-Buffer Tables and Systems.- 5.1 On calculating buffer composition tables.- 5.2 On designing a new pH-buffer system.- 6. Buffers for use in Partially Aqueous and Non-Aqueous Solvents and Heavy Water.- 6.1 pH* Scales.- 6.2 pH* Buffers.- 6.3 The measurement of pH*.- 6.4 A universal pH scale.- 6.5 The pD scale and the measurement of pD.- 6.6 The use of pH* and pD buffers.- 6.7 Surfactants.- 7. Metal-ion Buffers.- 7.1 The concept of pM.- 7.2 Uses of metal-ion buffers.- 7.3 Calculation of pM.- 7.4 pH-Independent metal-ion buffers.- 7.5 Effects of pH buffer substances on pM.- 7.6 Anion buffers.- 7.7 Redox buffering.- 8. Purification of Substances Used in Buffers.- 9. Preparation of Buffer Solutions.- 10. Appendices.- Appendix I. Tables for constructing buffer tables.- Appendix II. Composition-pH tables of some commonly used buffers.- Appendix III. Thermodynamic acid dissociation constants of prospective buffer substances.- Appendix IV. The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.- References.