Alcohols and Phenols: Hydrogen Bonding and Acidity
Start with the big picture
The lesson begins with alcohol and phenol naming, then examines how –OH groups act as hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors. These interactions help explain why alcohols boil at higher temperatures than analogous alkanes and ethers, how alcohol solubility changes with chain length, and why some phenols have unusual melting-point, boiling-point, or solubility behavior. The acidity section compares phenols and alcohols, relating phenol’s greater acidity to resonance stabilization of phenoxide. It also considers substituent and inductive effects, steric effects in tertiary alcohols, and the different hydrogen bonding and acidity patterns of sulfur analogs.
What you'll learn
- Apply basic IUPAC and common naming conventions for alcohols and phenols.
- Relate hydrogen bonding to boiling points, solubility, and selected physical properties.
- Explain why phenols are more acidic than alcohols using phenoxide resonance stabilization.
- Predict how substituents, inductive effects, and steric hindrance influence acidity.
- Compare the hydrogen bonding and acidity of oxygen and sulfur analogs.
Continue your study
Work through the complete notes and reinforce the topic with the study tools available in the full lesson.
