Phenol forms 2,4,6-tribromophenol as a white precipitate when treated with bromine water. This occurs under typical conditions, such as room temperature, favoring the formation of the tribromophenol product.

The -OH group in phenol activates the benzene ring, allowing halogenation to occur at low temperatures in solvents like CHCl₃ or CS₂, forming monobromophenols. Phenol’s high reactivity is attributed to the activating effect of the -OH group, eliminating the need ...

Picric acid is obtained by treating phenol first with concentrated sulfuric acid, converting it to phenol-2,4-disulphonic acid, and then with concentrated nitric acid to yield 2,4,6-trinitrophenol. The modern method is preferred for improved yield in the preparation of picric acid.

Phenol reacts with dilute nitric acid at low temperature, producing a mixture of ortho and para nitrophenols. Steam distillation is used to separate the isomers; o-nitrophenol is steam volatile due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding, while p-nitrophenol is less volatile due ...

The -OH group in phenol activates the benzene ring towards electrophilic substitution and directs incoming groups to ortho and para positions due to the electron-rich nature of these positions caused by resonance effects from the -OH group.