I keep getting “Acidity of carboxylic acids” questions wrong in Aldehydes, Ketones & Carboxylic Acids. What's the trap?
ranking phenol as more acidic than a carboxylic acid.
The usual trap: ranking phenol as more acidic than a carboxylic acid. How to avoid it: carboxylate resonance over two O's makes it the strongest of these acids. Go back to the definition — carboxylic acids are more acidic than alcohols and phenols because the carboxylate ion spreads its charge over two equivalent oxygens.
Key point
Acidity of carboxylic acids
Common mistake
ranking phenol as more acidic than a carboxylic acid.
Memory tip
carboxylate resonance over two O's makes it the strongest of these acids.
Tap to watch or see it right here — the app stays open (it only opens a quick search if nothing embeddable is found).