When was phenol discovered

New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, Sharp, The Penguin Dictionary of Chemistry , 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books, Jeffrey B.

Harborne and Christine A. Williams, "Anthocyanins and other flavonoids. Christine A. Grayer, "Anthocyanins and other flavonoids. Martha Windholz ed. In the words of Isaac Asimov, "Eventually chemical less irritating to tissue and even more effective in killing germs were discovered, but Lister and his carbolic acid had founded antiseptic surgery.

The structure shown above is ortho -cresol , or 2-methylphenol; the other isomers are shown below: The cresols are commonly used as solvents, in disinfectants and deodorizers, and in the manufacture of other compounds for example, the BHA and BHT shown below. Hydroquinone is easily oxidized by mild oxidizing agents to produce para -benzoquinone which is often just called quinone , which itself is easily reduced by mild reducing agents back to the hydroquinone form: This reversible redox reaction involving hydroquinone and quinone is exploited by nature in enzyme-catalyzed electron transport reactions in the form of the ubiquonones see entry below.

Calixarenes 3D 4- tert -Butylcalix[4]arene Download 3D The calixarenes are macrocycles large molecular rings formed by the reaction of phenols with aldehydes. Navigation Bar. Molecule Gallery. Download 3D. Phenol , or hydroxybenzene, is the parent compound of the phenols, consisting of an OH group directly connected to a benzene ring. Cresol is a trivial name for the three isomeric methylphenols. Xylenol is a trivial name given to the six isomeric dimethylphenols.

BHA butylated hydroxy anisole. Butylated hydroxy anisole BHA , or 2- tert -butylmethoxyphenol, is a commonly used antioxidant. BHT butylated hydroxy toluene. Butylated hydroxy toluene BHT , or 2,6-di- tert -butylmethylphenol, is another common antioxidant, used to prevent the spoiling of some foods, as well as to preserve cosmetics, drugs, gasoline, oils, rubber, and other products. Catechol , or 1,2-benzenediol, or 2-hydroxyphenol, contains two OH groups ortho to each other on a benzene ring.

The urushiols consists of a cathechol ring to which is attached a long hydrocarbon chain, consisting of 15 to 17 carbons, which may be saturated, unsaturated, or polyunsaturated. Resorcinol , or 1,3-benzenediol, or 3-hydroxyphenol, contains two OH groups meta to each other on a benzene ring. Hydroquinone , or 1,4-benzenediol, or 4-hydroxyphenol, contains two OH groups para to each other on a benzene ring.

The ubiquinones , also known as the coenzymes Q , are quinone derivatives see above which have isoprene-derived hydrocarbon chains. The anthocyanidins are members of a class of compounds called the flavonoids see page on Ketones ; they are pigments found in a wide range of plants, and are usually either red, blue, or purple, depending on the pH of their environment.

Some examples of the anthocyanidins are listed below:. During the Second World War, the Nazis used to exterminate individuals by injecting them with phenol. Phenol injections were given to thousands of people, especially at Auschwitz-Birkenau. About the Product : Phenol is the simplest aromatic alcohol characterized by a hydroxyl -OH group.

Sometimes Phenol in water solution is also called as carbolic acid. These materials are first used to produce cumene, which is then oxidized to become cumene hydroperoxide, before being split into phenol and its co-product, acetone. Most of it is consumed molten as a clear, colorless liquid. It is both the simplest hydroxybenzene and the most commercially important.

S Code: This website uses cookies and similar technologies to deliver its services, to analyse and improve performance and to provide personalised content and advertising. Information about your use of this website will be shared with Google and other third parties. Read our privacy policy. Phenol, that mainstay of the chemical industry, was a familiar smell around the house in soap. Brian Clegg reveals all.

Nowadays the whole business of personal hygiene is a gentle affair, a pleasant pampering with soothing creams and dermatologically tested soap substitutes. But go back a hundred years or so and keeping yourself clean and germ free was a rough, harsh world, typified by one hardboiled term.

Phenol , the proper name of carbolic acid, is one of the simplest aromatic compounds — a benzene ring with a single hydrogen replaced by a hydroxyl group — yet it has proved of continuing value as new uses have been found for it, resulting in modern production levels in the millions of tonnes per year. As a result, the new soap uses tea tree oil to provide a mild antiseptic effect and is formulated to still have a look and odour that suggests its original ingredients. Until the twentieth century, phenol continued to be extracted from coal tar, but in the early s it began to be produced from benzene itself largely extracted during coke production at the time via a benezesulfonic acid intermediary.

Now almost all phenol takes a different, cheaper route from benzene via isopropylbenzene also known as cumene , with the benzene typically produced by catalytic reforming or steam cracking from petroleum.

The reason for all this hard work is the versatility of phenol as a building block for other, more complex compounds. This happens because one of the electron lone pairs in the oxygen of the hydroxyl group on the phenol boosts the electron density of the delocalised electrons in the ring, making phenol much more reactive than benzene.

From the earliest days of plastics, phenol was a key ingredient, combining with formaldehyde and sawdust to make the phenol—formaldehyde resin better known as Bakelite. Now it provides a precursor to everything from the widely used polycarbonates to nylon.