Consider phenol and methanol. Experimentally, phenol is found to be a stronger acid than methanol. Explain this difference in terms of the structures of the conjugate bases.
2007-04-03 08:50:36 · 2 answers · asked by Roger 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
The C6H5O- (phenoxide) ion is resonance stabilised, and the methoxide ion, CH3O-, is not. This dramatically increases the acid strength of phenol over methanol.
2007-04-03 09:27:04 · answer #1 · answered by Gervald F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Phenol is a stronger acid because oxygen is a strong electron withdrawing group on the benzene ring. This ability to take that negative charge, as well as benzene's resonance abilities make it more able to hand the negative charge than methanol. Methanol doesn't have anywhere to transfer the electrons to.
2007-04-03 16:28:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋