Some people confuse acid-base and redox reactions. This confusion may be caused
firstly by the similar terms originating from oxygen and secondly by misunderstanding
about electron transfer. Historically, A. L. Lavoisier, who was one of the great founders
of modern chemistry in the 18th century, considered that oxygen was the basis of all acids.
He also defined oxidation as the formation of oxides from an element and oxygen. It then
took a long time before the present definitions of acid-base and redox reactions were
proposed and the old definitions were no longer satisfactory. Furthermore, the Lewis acid
accepts an electron pair from a base forming a Lewis acid-base complex, and the
oxidizing agent accepts electrons from a reducing agent and is reduced. The fact that
acids and oxidizing agents are electron acceptors, and that bases and reducing agents are
electron donors, is one of the causes of this confusion.