Extraction in Theory and Practice (Part I)
· Most phenols are weak acids (pK a = ~10) and do not react with sodium bicarbonate, which is a weak base itself (pK a (H 2 CO 3)=, ).However, they do react with a strong base like NaOH. This difference in acidity can be exploited to separate carboxylic acids and phenols from each other in an organic layer.