Phenol

Describe the Weak acidity of phenol

• phenoxide - is a weak conjugate base because of the delocalization of electrons by the +M effect

  • more delocalization - harder for h+ to find electrons

solubility increasing with pH

• as pH increases, solubility of phenol increases

• less h+ in solution, hence dissociation is favored

Reaction with Na and NaH and NaOH

Reaction with acid chloride

• lone pair availability of O is low - due to it being delocalized most of the time

• acid chlorides are v electronegative so will pull e-

Reaction with Halogenoalkane

• produce aromatic ether

Reduction

Neutral Iron (III) Chloride

Why cant reactions with pcl5 and lucas reagent take place

• most of the structure is a double bond which is much harder to break

Nitration

Sulfonation

Halogenation with Bromine Water

Alkylation

• reaction is same as benzene

• requires FC catalyst and anhydrous conditions

Acylation

AlCl3 and anhydrous

Hydrogenation

Preparation of Phenol