Which one of the following ionic species has the greatest proton affinity to form a stable compound?
Proton affinity is a measure of the basic strength of a species. A stronger base has a higher tendency to accept a proton (higher proton affinity). According to the Brønsted-Lowry concept, a weak acid has a strong conjugate base and vice versa. The conjugate acids of the given species are , , , and . The order of their acidic strength is . Since is the weakest acid among them, its conjugate base, the amide ion (), is the strongest base. Therefore, has the greatest proton affinity.
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