Which is a stronger acid, phenol or cresol? Explain.

Explanation

Cresol is methylphenol. It has three positional isomers: o-cresol and p-cresol. Due to +I-effect of `CH_(3)` group, electron density in the O-H bond increases, therefore, it becomes difficult to break the O-H bond as compared to that in phenol and hence all cresols are less acidic than phenol or phenol is a stronger acid than cresols.