Home > Community > When are compounds named in terms of benzene vs in terms of phenyl? I dont understand why C6H5Cl is named in terms of benzene while C6H5OH is named in terms of phenyl.
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Nikola Janssen

When are compounds named in terms of benzene vs in terms of phenyl? I dont understand why C6H5Cl is named in terms of benzene while C6H5OH is named in terms of phenyl.

Bradley Dichter  Follow

The C6H5- group is called ‘phenyl'. C6H5OH cannot be called phenyl alcohol because it does not contain the alcohol group -CH2OH. Therefore it is called phenol. C6H5Cl is called chlorobenzene because it is the chloro-derivative of benzene. It can also be called phenyl chloride, because it consists of a phenyl group and a chloride group, and it can be made from a chloride salt, phenol and sulphuric acid. But chlorobenzene is a better name because it is consistent with other derivatives such as nitrobenzene and benzensulphonic acid.

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Bob Mathews  Follow

Organic chemical names come from many sources. Some, like the increasingly long alkanes become regular at pentane or pentyl followed by hexyl, nonyl, etc., etc.

BUT a lot of organic chemical names are just what people decided a Loooong time ago. Like methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl.

and C5H5OH isn’t exactly named “phenyl” but rather phenol which is, I suspect, one of the many, quaint original names. However, I don’t know, it may relate to “phenyl”.

a snippet from wikipedia: In 1836, Auguste Laurent coined the name "phène" for benzene; this is the root of the word "phenol" and "phenyl". In 1843, French chemist Charles Gerhardt coined the name "phénol".

Y’r ol’ Bud, Fike

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