Chemistry - More acidic - protonated carbonyl or protonated hydroxyl?

You have outlined the correct reasoning but drawn the wrong conclusion. The protonated carbonyl structure (top left) is stabilized by resonance (bottom left), giving two equivalent resonance structures. Although the protonated hydroxyl (top right) has a resonance structure that can be drawn (bottom right), it should be considered a negligible contributor since there is a double positive charge on a very electronegative atom that would be sp2 hybridized (also toss in the charge separation). Since the protonated hydroxyl is not stabilized by resonance, it is more acidic, i.e., it is more willing to give away the proton (and keep the electrons).

enter image description here

Tags: