Assertion (A) Ethanol is a weaker acid than phenol.
Reason (R) Sodium ethoxide may be prepared by the reaction of ethanol with aqueous NaOH.

Options

A. Assertion and reason both are correct and reason is correct explanation of assertion.
B. Assertion and reason both are wrong statements.
C. Assertion is correct statement but reason is wrong statement.
D. Assertion is wrong statement but reason is correct statement.

Explanation

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understanding the Assertion**: The assertion states that "Ethanol is a weaker acid than phenol." To evaluate this, we need to compare the acidic strength of ethanol and phenol.

2. **Acidity of Phenol vs. Ethanol**: Phenol (C6H5OH) is more acidic than ethanol (C2H5OH). The reason for this is the stability of the phenoxide ion (C6H5O-) that is formed when phenol donates a proton (H+). The negative charge on the oxygen in the phenoxide ion is stabilized by resonance, which allows the charge to be delocalized over the aromatic ring.

3. **Resonance Stabilization**: In phenol, when it loses a proton, the resulting phenoxide ion can be represented by multiple resonance structures, which stabilizes the ion. In contrast, when ethanol loses a proton, it forms an ethoxide ion (C2H5O-), which does not have such resonance stabilization. Therefore, the assertion is correct: ethanol is indeed a weaker acid than phenol.

4. **Understanding the Reason**: The reason states that "Sodium ethoxide may be prepared by the reaction of ethanol with aqueous NaOH." This statement is misleading. Sodium ethoxide (C2H5ONa) can be formed from ethanol and sodium metal or sodium hydride, but not typically from ethanol and aqueous NaOH, which is more commonly used to form sodium phenoxide from phenol.

5. **Conclusion**: Since the assertion is correct and the reason is incorrect, we conclude that the correct answer is that the assertion is true, but the reason is false.

### Final Answer:
The assertion is true, and the reason is false. Thus, the correct option is C.

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