Resorcinol

Resorcinol (or resorcin) is an organic compound with the formula C6H4(OH)2. It is one of three isomeric benzenediols, the 1,3-isomer (or meta-isomer). It is a white, water-soluble solid. Resorcinol (or resorcin) is an organic compound with the formula C6H4(OH)2. It is one of three isomeric benzenediols, the 1,3-isomer (or meta-isomer). It is a white, water-soluble solid. Resorcinol is produced in several steps from benzene, starting with dialkylation with propylene to give 1,3-diisopropylbenzene. Oxidation and Hock rearrangement of this disubstituted arene gives acetone and resorcinol. Although of little commercial value, many additional routes exist for resorcinol. It can be produced when any of a large number of resins (e.g., galbanum, asafoetida, etc.) are melted with potassium hydroxide, or by the distillation of Brazilwood extract. It may be prepared synthetically by melting 3-iodophenol, phenol-3-sulfonic acid, or benzene-1,3-disulfonic acid with potassium carbonate; by the action of nitrous acid on 3-aminophenol or on 1,3-diaminobenzene. Many ortho- and para-compounds of the aromatic series (for example, the bromophenols, benzene-para-disulfonic acid) also yield resorcinol on fusion with potassium hydroxide. Resorcinol crystallizes from benzene as colorless needles that are readily soluble in water, alcohol, and ether, but insoluble in chloroform and carbon disulfide. It reduces Fehling's solution and ammoniacal silver solutions. It does not form a precipitate with lead acetate solution, as does the isomeric pyrocatechol. Iron(III) chloride colors its aqueous solution a dark-violet, and bromine water precipitates tribromoresorcinol. These properties are what give it its use as a colouring agent for certain chromatography experiments. Sodium amalgam reduces it to dihydroresorcin, which when heated to 150 to 160 °C with concentrated barium hydroxide solution gives γ-acetylbutyric acid When fused with potassium hydroxide, resorcinol yields phloroglucin, pyrocatechol, and diresorcin. It condenses with acids or acid chlorides, in the presence of dehydrating agents, to oxyketones, e.g., with zinc chloride and glacial acetic acid at 145 °C it yields resacetophenone (HO)2C6H3~CO.CH3. With the anhydrides of dibasic acids, it yields fluoresceins. When heated with calcium chloride—ammonia to 200 °C it yields meta-dioxydiphenylamine. With sodium nitrite it forms a water-soluble blue dye, which is turned red by acids, and is used as an indicator, under the name of lacmoid. It condenses readily with aldehydes, yielding with formaldehyde, on the addition of catalytic hydrochloric acid, methylene diresorcin 2•CH2. Reaction with chloral hydrate in the presence of potassium bisulfate yields the lactone of tetra-oxydiphenyl methane carboxylic acid. In alcoholic solution it condenses with sodium acetoacetate to form 4-methylumbelliferone. In addition to electrophilic aromatic addition, resorcinol (and other poly-ols) undergo nucleophilic substitution via the enone tautomer.