Which one of the following compounds has the most acidic nature?
Correct Answer is: (b)
Explaination:
Key Idea Presence of electron withdrawing substituent increases the acidity while electron releasing substituent, decreases the acidity. Phenyl is an electron withdrawing substituent while -CH3 is an electron releasing substituent. Moreover, phenoxide ion is more resonance stabilised as compared to benzyloxide ion, thus releases proton more easily. That’s why phenol is a strong acid among the given compounds.