Definitely their jawline… just kidding, it’s how much they dissociate
Answer:
1. The product has a higher Rf value on a silica gel TLC plate because it is more polar than the starting methyl benzoate.
2. False
3. True
Explanation:
In chromatography, there is a stationary phase and a mobile phase. The ratio of the distance moved by a component and the distance moved by the solvent gives the retention factor (Rf).
Since silica gel is a polar solvent, it will retain the more polar product methyl m-nitrobenzoate compared to the methyl benzoate starting material.
In comparing the electrophillic aromatic substitution of m-nitrobenzoate and methyl benzoate, we must remember that the presence of electron withdrawing groups (such as -NO2 and -CHO) on the aromatic compound deactivates the compound towards electrophillic aromatic substitution hence, methyl m-nitrobenzoate is less reactive than methyl benzoate in Electrophilic Aromatic Substition and Methyl benzoate is less reactive than benzene in Electrophilic Aromatic Substition
