Phenol or carbolic acid is a white crystalline solid, with a chemical formula of C₆H₅OH, a melting point of 43 C, and a boiling point of 182 C at the pressure of 1 atmosphere (or 101080 Pa). It is not a real alcohol, because the hydroxyl group is fixed on an unsaturated carbon.

Phenol can be made from the partial oxidation of benzene, or by the cumene process or Raschig process. It can also be found as a product of coal oxidation.

Despite the absence of a carboxyl group (-COOH), phenol is slightly acidic: the phenol molecule has weak tendencies to lose the H⁺ ion from the hydroxyl group due to the mesomeric effect.

Phenol has antiseptic properties, and was used by Sir Joseph Lister in his pioneering technique of antiseptic surgery, though the skin irritation caused by continual exposure to phenol eventually lead to the substitution of aseptic (germ-free) techniques in surgery.

It is used as a disinfectant and in the production of drugs, weedkillers, and synthetic resins - Bakelite, one of the first synthetic resins to be manufactured, is a polymer of phenol with formaldehyde. Exposure of the skin to concentrated phenol solutions causes chemical burns; in laboratories where it is used, it is usually recommended that polyethylene glycol solution is kept available for washing off splashes. Notwithstanding the effects of concentrated solutions, it is also used in cosmetic surgery as an exfoliant, to remove layers of dead skin.

Phenol is the first starting material in the industrially used three-step process to produce aspirin.

Dr. John H. Kellogg, the brother of Will Keith Kellogg who founded the Kellogg Company, advocated the application of "pure carbolic acid [phenol] on the clitoris of females to prevent masturbation in children".

See also

• phenols