Water is often instrumental in promoting disproportionation reactions however, it cannot itself disproportionate?
IS THIS TRUE OR FALSE?????
Water does this "ionization" reaction to a very small extent
3H20 <---> H3O+ + 2OH-
This only occurs in 1 in 10^7 molecules. So the answer centers on what you mean by "cannot".
The statement "water is often instrumental in promoting disproportionation reactions however, it cannot itself disproportionate" is TRUE. Water can act as a solvent or a medium for chemical reactions, including disproportionation reactions, but it does not undergo disproportionation itself.
Disproportionation reactions involve the transformation of a single species into two or more different oxidation states. For example, in a disproportionation reaction, an element in one oxidation state is simultaneously oxidized and reduced to form two different compounds. However, water does not undergo such a reaction.
Water does undergo an ionization reaction to a very small extent, as you have correctly mentioned. This is known as the autoionization or self-ionization of water, which can be represented by the following equation:
2H2O ⇌ H3O+ + OH-
In this reaction, water molecules react with each other to form hydronium ions (H3O+) and hydroxide ions (OH-). However, it is important to note that this ionization reaction occurs to a very limited extent, with only about 1 in 10^7 water molecules undergoing the ionization process at any given time.
So, in summary, while water can facilitate disproportionation reactions by acting as a solvent or medium, it does not undergo disproportionation itself. Instead, water can undergo self-ionization to a very small extent.