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CARBOLIC ACID

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 304 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CARBOLIC See also:

ACID or PHENOL (hydroxy-See also:benzene), C6H5OH, an acid found in the urine of the herbivorae, and in small quantity in castoreum (F. See also:Wohler, See also:Ann., 1848, 67, p. 36o). Its See also:principal commercial source is the fraction of See also:coal-See also:tar which distils between 150 and 200° C., in which it was discovered in 1834 by F. Runge. In See also:order to obtain the phenol from this distillate, it is treated with See also:caustic soda, which dissolves the phenol and its homologues together with a certain quantity of See also:naphthalene and other See also:hydrocarbons. The See also:solution is diluted with See also:water, and the hydrocarbons are thereby precipitated and separated. The solution is then acidified, and the phenols are;liberated and See also:form an oily layer on the See also:surface of the acid. This layer is separated, and the phenol recovered by a See also:process of fractional See also:distillation. It may be synthetically prepared by fusing See also:potassium benzene sulphonate with caustic alkalis (A. See also:Kekule, A. See also:Wurtz); by the See also:action of nitrous acid on See also:aniline; by passing See also:oxygen into boiling benzene containing See also:aluminium chloride (C.

See also:

Friedel and J. M. Crafts, Ann. Chim. Phys., 1888 (6) 14, p. 435); by See also:heating phenol carboxylic acids with baryta; and, in small quantities by the oxidation of benzene with See also:hydrogen peroxide or nascent See also:ozone (A. R. See also:Leeds, Ber., 1881, 14, p. 976). It crystallizes in rhombic needles, which melt at 42.5-43° C., and See also:boil at 182-183° C.; its specific gravity is I•o906 (o° C.). It has a characteristic See also:smell, and a biting See also:taste; it is poisonous, and acts as a powerful antiseptic. It dissolves in water, 15 parts of water dissolving about one See also:part of phenol at 16-17° C., but it is miscible in all proportions at about 7o° C.; it is volatile in See also:steam, and is readily soluble in See also:alcohol, See also:ether, benzene, See also:carbon bisulphide, See also:chloroform and glacial acetic acid.

It is also readily soluble in solutions of the caustic alkalis, slightly soluble in aqueous See also:

ammonia solution, and almost insoluble in See also:sodium carbonate solution. When exposed in the moist See also:condition to the See also:air it gradually acquires a red See also:colour. With ferric chloride it gives a See also:violet coloration, and with See also:bromine water a See also:white precipitate of tribromphenol. See also:chemistry was followed by the preparation of many metallic carbides previously unknown, some of which, especially See also:calcium See also:carbide, are now of See also:great commercial importance. Carbides of the following See also:general formulae have been obtained by H.

End of Article: CARBOLIC ACID

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