Comparing pure organic and substituated acids

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zileselakovic
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Comparing pure organic and substituated acids

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Can anyone tell me which acid is stronger - metanoic (HCOOH) or three-chlorine etanoic (Cl3C-COOH)?

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peter
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Re: Comparing pure organic and substituated acids

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zileselakovic wrote:Can anyone tell me which acid is stronger - metanoic (HCOOH) or three-chlorine etanoic (Cl3C-COOH)?

Thank you!
To answer which one is stronger you need to compare pKa:

CCl3COOH pKa = 0.89
HCOOH pKa = 3.77

The smaller pKa correspond to the stronger acid, therefore CCl3COOH is stronger.

Peter.
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zileselakovic
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Post by zileselakovic »

Thank you very much!
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