What is the strongest known acid?

1 Answer
Al E. · Truong-Son N.
Mar 29, 2018

Triflic acid is fairly dangerous, with #"pK"_a ~~ -14#. Anything with fluorides coordinated around it will increase a compounds acidity due to the dipole.

Fluoroantimonic acid is probably one of the (if not the) most acidic species, with #"pK"_a ~~ -31.3#.

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Those hydrogens on that fluorine are extra nasty, they'll protonate even hydrocarbons I'd imagine. For comparison, sulfuric acid is a typical strong acid, with #"pK"_a ~~ -3#.

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