Question

Anthracene present in coal tar is ___________ in nature.
A) neutral
B) acidic
C) basic
D) amphoteric

Answer 1

Hint: Coal tar contains around \[1.5\% \] anthracene, and remains a major source of the material. Anthracene occurs naturally in coal tar and it does not react to other components of the coal tar.

Complete step by step answer:
Anthracene the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are generated during combustion processes.
Let us see the structure of anthracene:

From structure, we can say that Anthracene consists of three fused benzene rings.
Hence due to the resonance stabilization energy anthracene is a highly stable compound.
We also know that Anthracene is a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound.
From structure, we can tell the molecular formula of Anthracene as \[{C_{14}}{H_{10}}\] .
As Anthracene is present naturally without any reaction with coal tar then it is neutral in nature.

Therefore, we can conclude that the correct answer to this question is option A.

Additional information: Exposure to humans only happens mainly through tobacco smoke and the ingestion of food contaminated with combustion products. We must know that the mineral form of anthracene is called freitalite. Anthracene can be prepared by cyclodehydration of O-methyl- or o-methylene-substituted diaryl ketones. Anthracene is biodegradable in soil and is highly responsive to degradation in the presence of sunlight. Anthracene is non-carcinogenic. For the formation of anthraquinone, the raw material is Anthracene.The variety of anthracene derivatives can have specialized uses in different fields.

Note:
Anthracene does not react with coal tar so Anthracene being acidic, basic, and amphoteric can be neglected because then the reaction with different components of coal tar and Anthracene would have taken place.