Acid Strength and the Inductive Effect: What’s the Connection?

The video tutorial explains how the presence of alkyl and halogen groups affects the acidity of carboxylic acids. Formic acid, lacking alkyl groups, is a strong acid, while acetic and propionic acids are weaker due to electron-repelling alkyl groups. Chloroacetic acid is stronger than acetic acid because chlorine, a strong electron-withdrawing group, increases acidity. Among halogen-substituted acids, fluoroacetic acid is the most acidic due to fluorine's strong electron-withdrawing effect. Trichloroacetic acid, with three chlorine atoms, exhibits a cumulative inductive effect, enhancing its acidity.

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