Basic application and function of phenol - jinhao chemical industry

Phenol (C6H5OH) is a colorless acicular crystal with special odor. It is an important raw material for the production of certain resins, fungicides, preservatives and medicines such as aspirin. It can also be used for sterilizing surgical instruments and the disposal of excreta, skin sterilization, antipruritic and otitis media. Melting point 43℃, slightly soluble in water at room temperature, soluble in organic solvents; When the temperature is higher than 65℃, it can dissolve with water in any proportion. Phenol is corrosive, contact with local protein denaturation, its solution on the skin can be washed with alcohol. A small amount of phenol is pink when exposed to air and oxidized by oxygen to quinone. Phenols are usually tested by this method when iron trivalent ions turn purple.

Phenol, also known as Carbolic acid, was discovered in coal tar in 1834 by Runge F, a German chemist. The famous English doctor Lester was credited with the first fame of phenol. Rister found that most of the causes of death after surgery were suppurative wound infections. Occasionally, a dilute solution of phenol was used to spray surgical instruments and doctors' hands, resulting in significantly fewer infections in patients. This discovery makes phenol a powerful disinfectant for surgery. Rister is also known as "the father of surgical disinfection".

Chemical properties

It absorbs moisture from the air and liquefies it. A very thin solution has a sweet taste. Highly corrosive. Strong chemical reaction ability. React with aldehyde and ketone to form phenolic resin, bisphenol A, and acetic anhydride. Salicylic acid reaction to produce phenyl acetate, salicylate. Can also be halogenation, hydrogenation, oxidation, alkylation, carboxylation, esterification, etherification and other reactions. Phenol is a solid at normal temperature, and it cannot react with sodium smoothly. If the method of heating and melting phenol and adding metal sodium is adopted for the experiment, phenol is easy to be reduced, and the color of phenol changes during heating, which affects the experimental results. Some people take the following method in the teaching experiment, the operation is simple, obtained satisfactory experimental results. Add 2-3 ml of anhydrous ether in a test tube, take a piece of metal sodium about the size of soybean, dry the kerosene on the surface with filter paper, and put it into ether, you can see that sodium does not react with ether. Then a small amount of phenol was added to the test tube, oscillating, and sodium was observed to react rapidly in the test tube, producing a large amount of gas. The principle of this experiment is that phenol is dissolved in ether, which makes the reaction between phenol and sodium proceed smoothly.