Asked by Ken

Why does alcohol have a higher boiling and melting point than other hydrocarbons like alkanes? Is it because of a weak intermolecular force, or the alkyne has low pKa.
Answered by DrBob222
hydrogen bonding.
Answered by Ken
would that be why chloromethanol has a lower pKa than methanol?
Answered by DrBob222
No, the chlorine atom is quite electronegative, it pulls electrons so the H is not as tightly bound, therefore it is easier to be "ionized." Easier to ionize means stronger acidity and that is a smaller pKa.
Answered by Ken
so the conjugate base of chloromethanol is more stable than that of methanol
Answered by DrBob222
Yes but remember we may not be talking about much. If the pKa is 7, we are taking a Ka of 10^-7 and that changing to 10^-6 is large in terms are the number (10 times stronger) but 10^-6 still is a very weak acid.
Answered by DrBob222
I don't know what the pKa is for these two materials. The previous post was just an example.
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