You see, phenol is more acidic because its conjugate base, the phenoxide ion, has its negative charge spread out over the benzene ring. Ethoxide from ethanol has no such stabilisation. And electron-withdrawing groups on the ring make phenol even more acidic, yaar! This I learned last week in my chemistry module, struggling with the diagrams at my verandah table. It reminded me of how a single strong support, like my old pension, gets stretched thinner but goes further when shared wisely across many needs.
#exams#study
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