some orgo help!

[Allthingsteeth]

Hey @orgoman22, some help with this question would be appreciated!!!

Why do alcohols react with acids?
A. Alcohols have protons
B. Acids are water soluble
C. Alcohols are water soluble
D. Alcohols are organic molecules
E. Alcohols behave as Bronsted-Lowry bases.

The first thing when I think of alcohol and acid is esterification (with the formation of water). From a conceptual stand point acids are, indeed, protonated while alcohols can act as an acid or a base. I have an answer in mind but am very shaky about it being the correct one.
Thank you!! (and I apologize in advance if this has an obvious answer that I might not be seeing).

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[averageasian]

The key word in this question is "acids". you should think of a simple acid base reaction. What do typical BL acids do? they give up protons! So if something is going to "react" with an acid, it must be that it is going to deprotonate it. you can deprotonate an alcohol and have it act as a BL Base to react with some acid. You're looking for some sort of base and E is the only one that satisfies this.

A. so do acids, but this is not why they "react" with each other.
B. Acids are water soluble but this doesn't explain why alcohols "react" with acids
C. same deal. alcohols are water soluble, some more than others. but this doesn't explain why alcohols "react" with acids
D. okay lol........................................
E. a deprotonated alcohol can act as a BL base + react with acid, perfect!

 

[Allthingsteeth]

@wezleesun`, thank you for the help! I chose E as well because it is the only one that is applicable to the question being asked but still wasn't 100% on it.