Alcohols and phenols react with active metals (e.g., sodium, potassium, aluminum), forming alkoxides/phenoxides and releasing hydrogen. Phenols also react with aqueous sodium hydroxide to produce sodium phenoxides.

The polar nature of the O-H bond contributes to the acidic character of alcohols. Electron-releasing groups like –CH₃ and –C₂H₅ decrease the acid strength by increasing electron density on oxygen.

Alcohols and phenols, despite having comparable molecular masses with hydrocarbons, ethers, haloalkanes, and haloarenes, exhibit higher boiling points due to the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding, which is lacking in the other compound classes.

The boiling points of alcohols and phenols increase with an increase in the number of carbon atoms, but in alcohols, boiling points decrease with increased branching due to a decrease in van der Waals forces and surface area.

The properties of alcohols and phenols are chiefly due to the hydroxyl group, while alkyl and aryl groups modify these properties.