If an alcohol solution has a pH of 5, would it be a primary alcohol, a second alcohol, a tertiary alcohol, or a phenol?

1 Answer
anor277
Sep 26, 2016

Only the phenol is a possibility.

Explanation:

Most alcohols, whatever their substitution, do not function as Bronsted-Lowry acids in aqueous solution. On the other hand, the conjugate acid of phenol, phenoxide anion, is resonance stabilized by conjugation to the aromatic ring, and thus should have some stability in aqueous solution.

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