How do the melting points of "ortho, meta, and paranitrophenol" compare? Do they reflect the degree of intermolecular hydrogen bonding?

1 Answer
anor277
Jul 2, 2016

The melting points of "ortho, meta, and para-nitrophenol" increase in that order. This does reflect the degree of intermolecular hydrogen bonding.

Explanation:

The melting points (and undoubtedly also the boiling points) of the nitro phenols reflect the degree of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. For "orthonitrophenol", hydrogen bonding would be intramolecular, i.e. confined to the SAME molecule. For "meta" and "para nitrophenols", hydrogen bonding would become intermolecular, a force between molecules. This is reflected by the higher melting points and boiling points. You will have to find these data yourself to support your argument.

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