question about pyrrole

Started by ikulu
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ikulu

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I understand that pyrrole is a poor base (from dat destroyer), so does it mean it's a strong acid?
I was thinking if the Nitrogen donates it's H+, it will become sp hybridizied (since it's lone pair is within the aromaticity system) and that just doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks for the help.
 
You are right in that the H can be removed and thus will be acidic. However, according to the holy grail, Wikipedia, it appears that pyrrole is only moderately acidic with a pKa of 16.5.

You are also correct that when the H is removed, the lone pair that is left hanging out on the N will be taken into the ring and will contribute to the aromaticity. This is what makes it a weak base because the lone pair is spread out throughout the whole ring through resonance.