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What pKa range is typical for oxyacids with no non-hydroxyl oxygen atoms?
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oxyacid
The structure of phosphorous acid, H3PO3.
For oxyacids with the general formula , the number of non-hydroxyl oxygen atoms is represented by . When āmeaning the molecule contains no non-hydroxyl oxygen atomsāthe typical range is between 8 and 11.1
Examples of such compounds include and . This acidity trend is attributed to the distribution of the negative charge of the anion across the oxygen atoms; as increases, the charge is shared among more equivalent oxygen atoms, which lowers the energy of the anion and increases the strength of the acid.1