Saved Bookmarks
| 1. |
Why does ethanol behave both as an acid and a base? |
| Answer» Ethanol has a very low pKa value as 16 and it has pH nearly 7 so, it may be considered as neutral, but due to presence of an acidic H-atom, it acts as little acidic and sometimes with strong bases like NaOH,So, it is broadly considered as little acidic.However, better to say it as an amphoteric compound which behaves as acid in strong base medium and as base in strong acid medium.Ex: CH3CH2-OH + NaOH (strong base) -> CH3CH2-ONa + H2O (acidic behavior)CH3CH2-OH + HCl (strong acid) -> CH3CH2-Cl +\xa0H2O (basic behavior) | |