Alcohols like ethanol ch3ch2oh, have a proton attached to the oxygen atom that can be acidic. can a base like ch3nh2 deprotonate the -oh group? (pka ch3ch2oh=15.7 pka ch3nh3=10.8) justify your answer

No. CH₃NH₂ cannot deprotonate CH₃CH₂OH.

Explanation:

Organic species like ethanol and methylamine can behave as acid or bases. The pKa value is necessary to indentify in a reaction if the species can act as an acid or a base.

In this case, despite alcohols being recognised as acids and amines as bases, the amine  CH₃NH₂ has an smaller pKa than the alcohol CH₃CH₂OH , which means that  CH₃NH₂  is a stronger acid than  CH₃CH₂OH . Therefore, CH₃NH₂ will not deprotonate the -OH group.

since the atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus, as we move to the left on the periodic table, the electrostatic pull between the nucleus and the valence electron shell decreases. as we move down a group (vertical column), the valence shell energy level gets further and further from the nucleus.