Explain why phenol have shorter C-O bond length compared to alcohols?
In phenols, the lone pair electrons of oxygen comes in conjugation with the benzene ring and thus the C-O attains a partial double bond character.
As we know that double bonds are shorter than single bonds, the C-O bon​dlength is shorter in phenol. there is no such effect in aliphatic OH compounds (like methanol) hence the C-O bond there is a 100% single bond.
As we know that double bonds are shorter than single bonds, the C-O bon​dlength is shorter in phenol. there is no such effect in aliphatic OH compounds (like methanol) hence the C-O bond there is a 100% single bond.