Question

Does phenol react with $ NaHC{O_3} $ ?

Answer 1

Hint :Phenols are the organic compounds which have at least one hydroxyl group $ ( - OH) $ on the benzene ring. They are weakly acidic in nature and hence, show some acidic properties. On the other hand, $ NaHC{O_3} $ has the chemical name Sodium hydrogen carbonate and it is a weak base. It can easily accept electrons from strong acids.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
We know that the phenols are organic compounds with a functional group having at least one hydroxyl group $ ( - OH) $ on the benzene ring. They are weakly acidic in nature because the conjugation effect of the benzene ring pulls the electron density from oxygen of hydroxyl group to itself and hence, cannot easily donate the proton. Phenols are weak acids because of the presence of the polar hydroxyl group.
While, on the other hand $ NaHC{O_3} $ is Sodium hydrogen carbonate (also known as Sodium bicarbonate) which is a weak base and can react with strong acid and abstracts protons from it showing its basic properties.
Since, now we know that the phenol is a weak acid, its acidity is not sufficient to react with a weak base like Sodium hydrogen carbonate and lose its proton to it.
So, due to its weakly acidic character, phenols do not react with $ NaHC{O_3} $ ( Sodium hydrogen carbonate).

Note :
We should note that the phenols have some acidic character because of the polar hydroxyl group $ ( - OH) $ on the benzene ring as the oxygen and the hydrogen have very high electronegativity difference and can release proton (hydrogen ion) in the aqueous solution or on reaction with a strong base (not with the strong base like Sodium hydrogen carbonate).