Carboxylic acids represent the strongest known organic acids.
Carboxylic acids are generally weak to moderate organic acids and do not represent the strongest known organic acids, which include various carbon-based superacids and superacidic microenvironments.
The claim states that carboxylic acids represent the strongest known organic acids. This is factually incorrect in organic chemistry, where classes such as carbon superacids, proton sponges, and specific superacidic functionalized nanostructures achieve acidities (such as negative Hammett acidity functions) vastly exceeding those of standard carboxylic acids like acetic or trifluoroacetic acid. Papers like [1] and [2] highlight much stronger organic and carbon-based superacids, refuting the claim.
Henkelmann M, Omlor A, Bolte M, Schünemann V, Lerner HW, Noga J, Hrobárik P, Wagner M. A free boratriptycene-type Lewis superacid.. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1sc06404e
Paper 1 discusses Lewis superacids that are not carboxylic acids.
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Li Y, Yang S, Bao W, Tao Q, Jiang X, Li J, He P, Wang G, Qi K, Dong H, Ding G, Xie X. Accelerated proton dissociation in an excited state induces superacidic microenvironments around graphene quantum dots.. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50982-x
Paper 2 demonstrates carbon nanomaterials and microenvironments that exhibit superacidity far exceeding carboxylic acids.
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