Acid-base equilibria
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Why is ethanoic acid considered to be monobasic even though it has 4 hydrogen atoms?
Corrie writes ......
All the H-atoms on ethanoic acid are not in the same chemical environment. Three are attached to the C-atom of the methyl group and these C-H bonds are strong and virtually non-polar. So it is hard to break them.
The remaining H-atom is attached to an O-atom on the COOH group. The O-H bond is very polar and the O-H bond can thus break heterolytically, giving an H+ ion and the COO- group. This is the 'acidic' hydrogen atom in the molecule.
This is what makes ethanoic acid a monobasic acid.
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updated: 09 May 2007
