Is phenol acidic?compare with ethanol.how does the presence of benzene ring modify the properties of the OH gr

Question

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Answer 1

Think about resonance, the more the negative charge can be spread over the conjugate base of the acid the more the compound will dissociate and so the more acidic it is. Phenol can put the negative charge onto the oxygen or each of 3 of the carbon atoms in the benzene ring. The ethanol can only put the charge on oxygen. Also if you're asked inductive effect would make methanol more acidic than ethanol.

Answer 2

C6H5O is a stable compound due to resonence where as C2H5O is not and react with other molecule to form C2H5OC2H5.