Question

Question: Rank the compounds in each group in order of increasing acidity. Rank the compounds in each group in order of increasing acidity.

a.

b.

Short answer

Answer

a.

b.

Step-by-step solution

Step-by-Step SolutionStep 1: Carboxylic acids

Carboxylic acids comprising electron-withdrawing groups are stable than those having electron-donating groups. The conjugate base is destabilized when electron-donating groups are present.

Acidity of carboxylic acids

The acid comprising several electronegative substituents is more acidic than those acids which do not possess electronegative substituents. Higher the electronegativity of the substituent, more acidic is the particular compound

Ranking the compounds based on the order of acidity

a. The electronegativity of the substituents present in the compound influences the acidic strength of the particular compound. The acidic strength is more for the substituent with more electronegativity.

The third compound, among the other compounds, is more acidic because of the presence of two OH groups. The first compound is least acidic because of the presence of the methyl group that is least electronegative.

The acidity order can be given as:

Acidity of the different compounds in question a

b. Electronegativity of iodine is greater than that of carbon atom. The presence of one extra ${\mathrm{CH}}_2$ group in the third compound of the given compounds in question b makes it less acidic than the first compound.

Hence the acidic order can be given as:

Acidity of the different compounds in question b