Phenols, acetyl derivatives identification

Crystalline derivatives, suitable for identification and characterisation are dealt with in Section IV, 114, but the preparation of the following, largely liquid, derivatives will be described in the following Sections. When phenols are dissolved in aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and shaken with acetic anhydride, they undergo rapid and almost quantitative acetylation if the temperature is kept low throughout the reaction. This is because phenols form readily soluble sodium derivatives, which react with acetic anhydride before the latter undergoes appreciable hydrolysis, for example ... 

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