Explain the reason for the following:
Unlike the chlorine atom in CH3Cl, that in chlorobenzene, C6H5Cl is not easily replaced by the -OH group.
Chlorine in chlorobenzene is not easily replaced by -OH group because of resonace effect. In chlorobenzene the electron pairs are in conjugation with pi-electrons of the ring. C-Cl bond acquires a partial double bond character due to resonace. As a result, the bond cleavage in chlorobenzene is difficult than chloromethane.