NEET UG · Chemistry · Alcohols, Phenols and Ethers

Alcohols and Phenols: NEET previous year questions

15 questions in ten years of NEET, in 7 of 10 papers. Pattern: Every year. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.

Asked in 10 years: 15; about 1.4 per paper
Years asked: 7/10; last asked 2024
Chance of a question next paper: 64%; historical rate, how we compute it
Weighted estimate: 0.9; model; history: 1.5 a paper on average, typically 0–2

Key findings

01
Asked in 7 of 10 papers, 15 questions in all: #38 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.2 years on average. Last asked in 2024.
02
69% of its questions since 2018 tested an idea never asked before; 1 repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Cleavage of Ethers by HI, asked 3 times (2017, 2020, 2023), usually as “predict product of reaction”.
04
NEET has asked 3 of the 83 ideas in this topic; 78 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (73%); 53% easy, 0% hard, and down from 1.9 to 0.3 questions a paper since 2024.

Questions per year

Up to 2023: 1.9; per paper
Since 2024: 0.3; -1.6
Usual gap: 1.2 yrs; between papers asking it
Swing: ±1.2; questions, year to year

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 15 questions on Alcohols and Phenols since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

Easy8 · 53%
Medium7 · 47%
Hard0 · 0%

Format

One-line MCQ · 11 Q73%
Two statements · 2 Q13%
Figure-based · 1 Q7%
Other · 1 Q7%

Skill tested

Application · 5 Q33%
Concept · 5 Q33%
Recall · 4 Q27%
Multi-step · 1 Q7%

Repeats

New idea, or one asked before?

Each column is a paper. Blue questions tested an idea NEET had not asked before; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier paper. 2017 is the first paper, so everything in it counts as new.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier paper

Coverage of the topic

NEET has asked 3 of the 83 ideas in this topic. 78 have never been asked yet.

Asked directly3 · 4%
Touched inside another question2 · 2%
Never asked78 · 94%

Ideas come from Lumi’s syllabus map of NCERT. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: most new questions come from exactly these.

Drill down

Idea, year, question

Every idea NEET tested in this topic, with its ten papers. Open one to read the questions.

ideaAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Repeated3 · 20%20%3/10
- 2023 · Q87
  Consider the following reaction : $\mathrm{C_6H_5-CH_2-O-C_6H_5 \xrightarrow[\Delta]{HI} A + B}$ (benzyl phenyl ether) Identify products A…
  mediumOne-line MCQ
- 2020 · Q135
  Anisole on cleavage with HI gives :
  easyOne-line MCQ
- 2017 · Q83
  The heating of phenyl-methyl ethers with HI produces.
  easyOne-line MCQNew idea
Repeated2 · 13%13%2/10
Repeated2 · 13%13%2/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10
1 · 7%7%1/10

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

Every idea inside this topic

11 different ideas were tested; 3 came more than once. Ortho/Para vs Meta Position of EWG is the foundation for 4 other ideas in the syllabus.

Cleavage of Ethers by HI3×
predict product of reaction
One-line MCQ · 6% next
Lucas Test2×
statement i/ii on alcohol tests
One-line MCQ · 6% next
Cumene Process2×
predict product of reaction
Figure-based · 4% next
Acid-Catalysed Dehydration of Alcohols1×
order/ranking of ease of reaction
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Ortho/Para vs Meta Position of EWG1×
statement i/ii on phenol acidity
Two statements · 4% next · foundation for 4
Alcohols from Grignard Reagents1×
predict product of reaction
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Basicity of Alcohols, Ethers and Phenols1×
order/ranking of property
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Iodoform Test1×
identify compound giving iodoform test
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Reaction with Active Metals1×
identify compounds in reaction sequence
One-line MCQ · 4% next · foundation for 2
Reimer-Tiemann Reaction1×
identify electrophile in named reaction
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Acidity of Picric Acid1×
identify most acidic among phenols
One-line MCQ · 4% next

Idea	Times	Format	Chance next	Foundation for
Cleavage of Ethers by HIpredict product of reaction	3	One-line MCQApplication	6%	–
Lucas Teststatement i/ii on alcohol tests	2	One-line MCQRecall	6%	–
Cumene Processpredict product of reaction	2	Figure-basedMulti-step	4%	–
Acid-Catalysed Dehydration of Alcoholsorder/ranking of ease of reaction	1	One-line MCQConcept	4%	–
Ortho/Para vs Meta Position of EWGstatement i/ii on phenol acidity	1	Two statementsConcept	4%	4 ideas
Alcohols from Grignard Reagentspredict product of reaction	1	One-line MCQApplication	4%	–
Basicity of Alcohols, Ethers and Phenolsorder/ranking of property	1	One-line MCQConcept	4%	–
Iodoform Testidentify compound giving iodoform test	1	One-line MCQApplication	4%	–
Reaction with Active Metalsidentify compounds in reaction sequence	1	One-line MCQApplication	4%	2 ideas
Reimer-Tiemann Reactionidentify electrophile in named reaction	1	One-line MCQConcept	4%	–
Acidity of Picric Acididentify most acidic among phenols	1	One-line MCQConcept	4%	–

Chance next is the historical rate at which an idea with this record came back in the following paper. It is low for every idea, which is why learning the topic beats memorising past questions. All repeated ideas

Every question

Alcohols and Phenols questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested.

NEET 20241 question

Q63
Which one of the following alcohols reacts instantaneously with Lucas reagent?
Idea: Lucas Test
EasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20232 questions

Q87
Consider the following reaction : $\mathrm{C_6H_5-CH_2-O-C_6H_5 \xrightarrow[\Delta]{HI} A + B}$ (benzyl phenyl ether) Identify products A…
Idea: Cleavage of Ethers by HI
MediumOne-line MCQ · figure
Q91
Which amongst the following will be most readily dehydrated under acidic conditions ?
Idea: Acid-Catalysed Dehydration of Alcohols
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20222 questions

Q74
Given below are two statements : Statement I : The acidic strength of monosubstituted nitrophenol is higher than phenol because of…
Idea: Ortho/Para vs Meta Position of EWG
New ideaEasyTwo statements
Q97
Given below are two statements : Statement I : In Lucas test, primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols are distinguished on the basis of…
Idea: Lucas Test
New ideaEasyTwo statements

NEET 20202 questions

Q100
Reaction between acetone and methylmagnesium chloride followed by hydrolysis will give :
Idea: Alcohols from Grignard Reagents
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q135
Anisole on cleavage with HI gives :
Idea: Cleavage of Ethers by HI
EasyOne-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20192 questions

Q47
The structure of intermediate A in the following reaction, is : C₆H₅–CH(CH₃)₂ (cumene) $\xrightarrow{O_2}$ A $\xrightarrow{H^+, H_2O}$ …
Idea: Cumene Process
Asked last yearMediumFigure-based · figure
Q69
The compound that is most difficult to protonate is :
Idea: Basicity of Alcohols, Ethers and Phenols
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20184 questions

Q52
Identify the major products P, Q and R in the following sequence of reactions : Benzene + $\mathrm{CH_3CH_2CH_2Cl}$ …
Idea: Cumene Process
New ideaMediumOther · figure
Q60
The compound A on treatment with Na gives B, and with $\mathrm{PCl_5}$ gives C. B and C react together to give diethyl ether. A, B and C…
Idea: Reaction with Active Metals
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q66
In the reaction Phenol ( $\mathrm{C_6H_5OH}$ ) + $\mathrm{CHCl_3}$ + NaOH $\longrightarrow$ sodium 2-formylphenoxide (ring with…
Idea: Reimer-Tiemann Reaction
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ · figure
Q68
Compound A, $\mathrm{C_8H_{10}O}$ , is found to react with NaOI (produced by reacting Y with NaOH) and yields a yellow precipitate with…
Idea: Iodoform Test
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20172 questions

Q55
Which one is the most acidic compound ?
Idea: Acidity of Picric Acid
EasyOne-line MCQ · figure
Q83
The heating of phenyl-methyl ethers with HI produces.
Idea: Cleavage of Ethers by HI
EasyOne-line MCQ

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.