Why are carboxylic acids more acidic than alcohols or phenols although all of them have hydrogen atom attached to a oxygen atom (—O—H)?


Carboxylic acids are more acidic than alcohol or phenol, although all of them have O—H bond. This can be explained on the basis of stability of conjugate base obtained after removal of H’ from acid or phenol
.
Hence, dissociation of O—H bond in case of carboxylic acid become easier than that of phenol. Hence, carboxylic acid are stronger acid than phenol.