Question

Distinguish between phenol and benzoic acid with a suitable chemical equation.

Answer 1

To distinguish between phenol and benzoic acid consider the following reactions:

$C_6{H}_{5}OH+FeC{l}_3\to \left[Fe\right(O{C}_6{H}_5){]}^{3-}+3H^{+}+3C{l}^{-}$

$C_6{H}_{5}COOH+FeC{l}_3\to$ No reaction

Here it can be seen that the phenol reacts with the ferric chloride and Iron phenol complex which is violet in colour whereas the benzoic acid does not give this test.