Could someone please tell me what the pH of an alcohol is please? Feel really silly asking this but I really do not know! I'm presuming its a weak acid, am I right? Help!
carboxylic id assume, realtive inductive effect on the -OH forcing the h to become H+, they are weak but can donate protons, and only partially dissociate with their ions!
There's delocalisation which extends from the lone pair on oxygen to form the coo- which is stabilised. This weakens the o-h bond causing it to more readily dissociate, thus making it a stronger acid.
According to the syllabus I'm doing, alcohols are neutral in pH. They do not donate their protons easily since unlike carboxylic acids, the charge of the resulting anion could not be delocalised since there is no C=O double bond or pi electrons in alcohols.
Thanks for all ya help guys. Managed to get in touch wi an old chemistry teacher. For anyone else who wants to know... alcohols (primary ones at least) are neutral while carboxylic acids are obviously acidic.