Question

Which of the following is not true in case of reaction with heated copper at $573K$ ?

• A. Phenol $\to$ benzyl alcohol
• B. Primary alcohol $\to$ aldehyde
• C. Secondary alcohol $\to$ ketone
• D. Tertiary alcohol $\to$ olefin

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

Phenols, unlike alcohols will not easily show such reactions which involve cleavage of $C—OH$ bond because phenols are more acidic than alcohols as its conjugate base phenoxide ion produced after loss of $H^{+}$ is stabilised by resonance