10.18 p-Dichlorobenzene has higher m.p. than those of o- and m-isomers. Discuss.
The structures of o-Dichlorobenzene, m-Dichlorobenzene, and p-Dichlorobenzene are given below.
Melting point depends on the crystal lattice structure We can see that p-Dichlorobenzene is a very symmetric structure thus packing of it will be maximum. As a result more and more energy will be required to break the crystal lattice of p-Dichlorobenzene. The melting point is high for p-dichlorobenzene.