Reactions of Alcohols and Phenols

Name: Reactions of Alcohols and Phenols
Author: StemPy Lab

Why is phenol a stronger acid than ethanol, and what do substituents do to acid strength? Then the reactions of alcohols: substitution, dehydration, esterification and oxidation, and the tests that tell the classes apart. The course ends with phenol, including the Kolbe and Reimer-Tiemann reactions.

3 lessons, about 1 h 20 min3 simulations10 problems3 practice questionsPython in every lesson

Created by StemPy Lab

Course outline (3 lessons)

Lesson 1about 30 min
Acidity of alcohols and phenols
Alcohols and phenols both lose the hydrogen of OH as a proton, and both are weak acids. Phenol is about a million times stronger than ethanol because its anion spreads the negative charge over the ring. Groups that pull electrons, such as NO $_2$ , raise the acidity further. Groups that push electrons lower it.
1 simulation1 practice question1 Python program3 problems1 Python lab
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Lesson 2about 25 min
Substitution, dehydration, esterification and oxidation of alcohols
An alcohol can lose its OH (substitution and dehydration), form an ester, or be oxidised. The class of the alcohol decides how fast it reacts with the Lucas reagent, how easily it dehydrates and what the oxidising agent makes. These differences are the basis of the tests that tell primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols apart.
1 simulation1 practice question1 Python program4 problems1 Python lab
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Lesson 3about 25 min
Preparing phenol and substituting its ring
Phenol is made industrially from cumene, and in the laboratory from a diazonium salt or by fusing a sulphonic acid with alkali. Its OH group makes the ring very reactive. Bromine water gives a white tribromophenol at once. The Kolbe and Reimer-Tiemann reactions put a COOH or CHO group at the ortho position.
1 simulation1 practice question1 Python program3 problems1 question set1 note
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Reactions of Alcohols and Phenols: Timed Test

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Reactions of Alcohols and Phenols

Course outline (3 lessons)

Acidity of alcohols and phenols

Substitution, dehydration, esterification and oxidation of alcohols

Preparing phenol and substituting its ring

Test Your Learning

Your teacher

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