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What is the expected acidity or basicity of a molecule with a formula of C6H5OH? Justify your answer with an explanation of the chemical bonding and electronegativity of the atoms involved in the molecule.

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C6H5OH is the molecular formula for phenol, which is a weak acid. To justify this, let's analyze the chemical bonding and electronegativity of the atoms involved in the molecule.Phenol consists of a benzene ring  C6H5  with a hydroxyl group  OH  attached to one of the carbon atoms. The benzene ring is composed of six carbon atoms with alternating single and double bonds, creating a resonance structure that delocalizes the electrons across the entire ring. This delocalization provides stability to the molecule.The hydroxyl group  OH  is the key to understanding the acidity of phenol. The oxygen atom in the hydroxyl group is more electronegative than the carbon and hydrogen atoms, meaning it attracts electrons more strongly. This causes the oxygen-hydrogen bond to be polar, with a partial negative charge on the oxygen atom and a partial positive charge on the hydrogen atom.When phenol is dissolved in water, the polar O-H bond can break, releasing a hydrogen ion  H+  and leaving behind a phenoxide ion  C6H5O- . This process is characteristic of an acidic substance. However, the acidity of phenol is weak compared to strong acids like hydrochloric acid  HCl  or sulfuric acid  H2SO4 . This is because the negative charge on the phenoxide ion is delocalized across the benzene ring, which provides some stability to the ion, but not enough to make phenol a strong acid.In summary, the expected acidity of a molecule with the formula C6H5OH  phenol  can be attributed to the presence of the polar hydroxyl group and the electronegativity of the oxygen atom. Phenol is a weak acid due to the delocalization of the negative charge on the phenoxide ion across the benzene ring.

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