Which of the following substituted phenols is the strongest acid?

Question

Canvas Classes · Accepted Answer

🧠 Decoding Acidity
Acidity in phenols depends on the stability of the resulting phenoxide ion. If you have a group that "pulls" electrons away from the oxygen (electron-withdrawing), the negative charge is stabilized, and the phenol is more acidic.

🗺️ Comparing Substituents
Let's look at the effect of the groups provided:
- -NO2 (Nitro group): This is a powerful electron-withdrawing group via both -I (inductive) and -R (resonance) effects. At the para position, it effectively deactivates the

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