Question

At low temperature, phenol reacts with $\mathrm{Br}{}_2$ in $\mathrm{CS}{}_2$ to form

• A. m-bromophenol
• B. o- and p-bromophenol
• C. p-bromophenol
• D. 2,4,6-tribromophenol

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

In presence of non-polar solvent $\left(C{S}_2\right)$ the ionization of phenol is suppressed. The ring is slightly activated and hence mono substitution occurs. On the other hand with $B{r}_2$ water phenol forms $2,4,6$ -tribromo phenol. In aqueous solution, phenol ionizes to give phenoxide ion. Due to the presence of negative charge on oxygen, the benzene ring is highly activated and hence the trisubstituted product is obtained