Final answer:
The correct ranking from most acidic to least acidic is carboxylic acid, alcohol, and amine due to the stability of their respective conjugate bases and the differences in their molecular structures. The stability contributed by resonance in carboxylic acids makes them the most acidic, followed by alcohols, which lack this stabilization, and amines being the least acidic.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks to rank the given structures by acidity: carboxylic acid, amine, and alcohol. To determine the relative acidity, we need to consider the stability of the conjugate base formed after donating a proton (H+) and the overall molecular structure that influences acidity.
Carboxylic acids are generally the most acidic among the three due to resonance stabilization in their conjugate base, the carboxylate ion. This ion has a negative charge that is delocalized across two oxygen atoms, making it more stable than the corresponding anions of alcohols and amines. The typical pKa value for a carboxylic acid is around 5.
Alcohols are less acidic than carboxylic acids because the alkoxide ion formed when an alcohol donates a proton does not have resonance stabilization. The typical pKa value for alcohols is typically around 16.
Amines are the least acidic due to the lone pair on the nitrogen, which contributes to a less stable conjugate base upon deprotonation. Furthermore, nitrogen is less electronegative compared to oxygen, making it less capable of stabilizing a negative charge.
Therefore, the correct ranking from most acidic (1) to least acidic (3) is carboxylic acid, alcohol, amine, which corresponds to option (c).