Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Procurement of Phenol

Rando1234 - 8-1-2022 at 12:24

I need a fair bit of phenol (25g) for an upcoming experiment on the Bargellini reaction. I have made a little phenol from salicylic acid as per methods discussed on this forum. I don't like this method because it involves distilling the phenol, which smells terrible and makes the likelihood of exposure higher. It also has a tendency to clog my distillation fittings and be a pain in the a$$ to clean. Are there any methods I can use to obtain phenol besides salicylic acid decarboxylation and making it from aniline?

-JacobM

Edit: it's never the initial distillation but the redistillation that causes issues. The phenol always gets stuck inside the vacuum adapter.

[Edited on 8-1-2022 by JacobM]

crow6283 - 8-1-2022 at 12:42

Why not just buy some?? I don’t see this as being particularly difficult to acquire. Seems to be readily available from a variety of sellers.

Rando1234 - 8-1-2022 at 12:51

I've thought of doing this. However I can only find liquid phenol on Ebay of a decent purity. Liquid phenol has water, which I'm not sure this reaction is amenable to.
There's a Ukrainian seller selling it, but I doubt it would get through customs.

Have you seen any sellers?

crow6283 - 8-1-2022 at 13:31

Why wouldn’t it get through customs?? If you are based in the USA, a Google search gave me several domestic sellers that have it.

Rando1234 - 8-1-2022 at 13:41

Like whom?

Hexabromobenzene - 8-1-2022 at 17:49

Phenol can be obtained from pyrolysis polycarbonate(compact discs) with zinc chloride and followed distillation tar collect fraction 180-185C
It can be produced in large volume if you have many compact discs and fuel(wood)

this also produces p-isopropenylphenol
See:
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=75...

WARNIGNG: It produces very acrid smoke due to benzoquinone.

[Edited on 9-1-2022 by Hexabromobenzene]

[Edited on 9-1-2022 by Hexabromobenzene]

aab18011 - 10-1-2022 at 15:37

Quote: Originally posted by JacobM  
I need a fair bit of phenol (25g) for an upcoming experiment on the Bargellini reaction. I have made a little phenol from salicylic acid as per methods discussed on this forum. I don't like this method because it involves distilling the phenol, which smells terrible and makes the likelihood of exposure higher. It also has a tendency to clog my distillation fittings and be a pain in the a$$ to clean. Are there any methods I can use to obtain phenol besides salicylic acid decarboxylation and making it from aniline?

-JacobM

Edit: it's never the initial distillation but the redistillation that causes issues. The phenol always gets stuck inside the vacuum adapter.

[Edited on 8-1-2022 by JacobM]


I just got 500g from LabDirectLLC, and it was very cheap It even was solid when I recieved it in mid July. But if you arent far I might be able to get a sample sent out to you. I dont mind sending it. It might be a delay though me because I moving closer to my university for my new job.

DocX - 11-1-2022 at 11:26

I bought from the "Ukrainian seller" on Ebay. The shipment came through just fine, but I'm based in EU. The shipment was prompt and the product seems to be just like advertised. Unfortunately that means it's a bit red and probably needs to be distilled anyhow.



[Edited on 20222222/1/11 by DocX]

dawt - 11-1-2022 at 14:39

If you're in the EU I can also highly recommend LiMac: https://www.limac.lv/catalog/params/category/91115/item/3733...
They ship from Latvia and have a decent catalogue.