12: Alcohols and Phenols
- Last updated
- Nov 18, 2024
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When you have completed Chapter 12, you should be able to
- fulfill all of the detailed objectives listed under each individual section.
- design a multi‑step synthesis using any of the reactions introduced in this chapter, together with any number of the reactions discussed previously.
- solve “road‑map” problems requiring a knowledge of alcohol chemistry.
- define, and use in context, the key terms introduced in this chapter.
In this chapter, we examine the chemistry of the alcohol family of compounds. Alcohols can undergo a wide variety of reactions, and because of this reactivity and because they can be prepared in a number of different ways, alcohols occupy an important position in organic chemistry.
The discussion begins with an outline of the nomenclature of alcohols and phenols. We review the physical properties of these compounds, and discuss methods used to obtain the lower members of the series on an industrial scale. A detailed discussion of the laboratory preparation of alcohols follows, with particular emphasis on those methods that involve either the reduction of a carbonyl compound or the use of a Grignard reagent.
Certain reactions of alcohols were discussed in previous chapters. In this chapter, we concentrate on the oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds. We also introduce the concept of protecting a sensitive functional group during an organic synthesis. The discussion then turns to the uses of phenols, their preparation and their chemical reactivity.
Infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy each can provide valuable information about alcohols and phenols, and we illustrate the application of these techniques to the identification of unknown alcohols and phenols with a number of examples.
- 12.3: Preparation of Alcohols- A Review
- Alcohols are considered on of the more important functional groups in organic chemistry. They can be prepared from compounds containing a wide assortment of functional groups. Also, the can be used to create compounds with a wide variety of functional groups such as: alkenes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and others. Many functional group conversions can be accomplished through the preparation of an alcohol giving them an important central position in organic synthesis.
