Talk:Phenol

Phenol is still widely used as an antiseptic

Under the "medical" section it says that phenol was once widely used as an antiseptic. It still is widely used as an antiseptic!

Acidity of phenol

Section "Acidity" begins with the sentence: "Phenol is a weak acid (pH 6.6)". Now, in my opinion, since at room temperature the solubility of phenol in water is 0.895 mol/L and its ionization constant is about 1.12×10⁻¹⁰ , the pH of a saturated solution of phenol should be 5.0 . So, for unsaturated solutions, any pH value berween 5 and 7 is possible, depending on the concentration. In particular, pH 6.6 reported in the article would occur for the rather low concentration of 5×10⁻⁴ mol/L. Briefly, I don't understand where that pH value 6.6 comes from. Ekisbares (talk) 17:53, 16 December 2024 (UTC)

Well, surprise-surprise, maybe you should edit the article to indicate the concentration associated with a pH of 6.6 or use another concentration. To me, the article does a decent job giving readers the gist of aqueous phenol's acidity because people - get this amazing feat - typed into the article.--Smokefoot (talk) 15:56, 7 January 2025 (UTC)

Dead link history of phenol

Under the second world war part, the first link in the sentence "The toxic effect of phenol on the central nervous system causes sudden collapse and loss of consciousness in both humans and animals; a state of cramping precedes these symptoms because of the motor activity controlled by the central nervous system." links to a non-existant part of the phenol page called exposure and potential toxicity Edced04 (talk) 18:32, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Industrial uses of phenol

apart from phenol used as an antiseptic, what are some industrial uses of phenol and is it lucrative? ~2026-36151-01 (talk) 14:14, 21 June 2026 (UTC)

The article answers your question. Lots of useful stuff is made from phenol. Phenol itself seems to have only limited utility. --Smokefoot (talk) 15:13, 21 June 2026 (UTC)