Asked by Brad
Why are carboxylic acids and phenols acidic?
Answers
Answered by
DrBob222
One definition of an acid is "an acid is a proton donor." Acids "are acids" because the H attached to the OH is easily detached. That is, acetic acid is CH3COOH and its the H on the OH (the COOH part) that ionizes as H^+ and leaves the CH3COO^- as the anion. All carboxylic acids have the COOH grouping and it's that H that comes off in each of them. The H of the OH group on phenols behaves the same way which leaves the C6H5O^- as the anion.
There are no AI answers yet. The ability to request AI answers is coming soon!
Submit Your Answer
We prioritize human answers over AI answers.
If you are human, and you can answer this question, please submit your answer.