25.3 Phenols

Question 1

what is a phenol?

Answer 1

an aromatic ring bonded directly to an OH functional group

Question 2

what is more polar, phenol or an alcohol?

Answer 2

alcohol as phenol has a non-polar benzene ring

Question 3

what kind of acid are phenols?

Answer 3

they are weak acids

Question 4

what does phenol partially dissociate into?

Answer 4

a phenoxide ion and a proton

Question 5

how do you differentiate between a phenol and carboxylic acid?

Answer 5

add sodium carbonate

only carboxylic acid produced CO2

Question 6

phenol + NaOH

Answer 6

sodium phenoxide and water

Question 7

how do you differentiate between an alkene and phenol?

Answer 7

add bromine water
both decolourise

phenol will produce a white precipitate

Question 8

phenol + bromine water

Answer 8

2,4,6 tribromo phenol

Question 9

what is more reactive phenol or benzene?

Answer 9

phenol

Question 10

why is phenol more reactive?

Answer 10

phenol has an OH group which contains a lone pair of electrons which is donated to the delocalised pi system which increases electron density of the phenol

greater electron density means phenols are more susceptible to electrophilic attack