Why are phenols acidic in nature?

Answer 1

Phenol can act as an acid due to it's stability as phenoxide ion. By releasing H+ ion it will form stable C6H5O- ion. The groups having +I, -I , +M , -M efffects present on phenol will effect acidic nature of phenol. As +I or +M groups which are present at ortho and at para psitions will decrease the acidic character of phenol. If they are at meta position effect is less than at para or ortho positions.

Similar to this -I or -M gorups are substituted on phenol they will increase the acidic nature. so, we can say that as the stability of phenoxide ion increases acidic nature of phenol also increases.

Phenol can act as an acid due to it's stability as phenoxide ion. By releasing H+ ion it will form stable C6H5O- ion. The groups having +I, -I , +M , -M efffects present on phenol will effect acidic nature of phenol. As +I or +M groups which are present at ortho and at para psitions will decrease the acidic character of phenol. If they are at meta position effect is less than at para or ortho positions.

Similar to this -I or -M gorups are substituted on phenol they will increase the acidic nature. so, we can say that as the stability of phenoxide ion increases acidic nature of phenol also increases.
Phenol is a weak acid because of the presence of the hydrogen ions.

Answer 2

Phenols are more acidic than aliphatic alcohols because the phenoxide ion is stabilized by the electron-withdrawing effect of the aromatic ring system. Aliphatic alcohols ionize to a lesser extent because the alkoxide ion is relatively less stable, so they are less acidic.

Answer 3

Type your answer here i think when the phenol is added to water the phenol forms phenoxide ion which is stronger so its acidity is more than the water pure phenol is insoluble in water. so question is not right

Answer 4

Phenol should not be an acid, but it is an acid because of its resonance structures. Its resonating structures imparts a +ve charge over oxygen atom of OH group which helps it remove the hydrogen atom from OH group more easily. Because of this behavior of phenol, though it is not an acid, it behaves like a weak acid.

Answer 5

Phenols are acidic in nature because the hydrogen atom attached to the hydroxyl group (OH) can easily dissociate to form a phenoxide ion. This occurs due to the resonance stabilization of the resulting phenoxide ion, making it more stable and leading to the acidity of phenols.

Answer 6

Phenol are acidic due to the formation of stable phenoxide ions in aqueos solution. Phenol itself give pheoxide on dissociation Phenol----------------- Phenoxide- + H+