Phenol

            Phenols is compound that as created innumerous changes in the world. This compound as originated the Age of Plastics, just like the spices did with the Age of the Discoveries, and its derivatives have given place to breakthroughs in various fields especially in the medical and surgical areas. Phenol is composed of a benzene ring with an Oh group attached to it, and since it is such a simple molecule, there are various derivatives of this compounds that were used in the most different ways, but they all have influenced some kind of change in the world, either small or big.

            During the nineteenth century, a phenol was shown to be very important in the surgical field. At the time, hospitals were totally different from what they are today, and they weren’t always a place of healing. Most times, hospitals were actually even more dangerous to people than the injury and pain they had. The hygiene at the time was not very good, and hospitals were the easiest places for people to develop infections due to the various bacterias that went from patient to patient, and even from doctors to patients. A lot of times people would die not from the injuries but due to the infections developed with the surgeries performed in hospitals. Joseph Lister was the first to hypothesize that this infections were caused by microorganisms in the air, and to find that this could be eliminated when boiled. Lister then started using carbolic acid which was produced from coal tar, substance used to treat stinking city drains. This substance showed successful results when a eleven year old boy survived a compound fracture without having any infection after being treated with the carbolic acid, used to clean the wound and in the surgical dressing.  With carbolic acid, Lister had prevented an infection and saved the boy’s life. This big success made Lister start using carbolic acid in all his surgical procedures, even though most people did not believe his germ theory. Carbolic acid could be used as an antiseptic due to the characteristics of its main component, phenol. Phenol is very soluble in oil, and slightly soluble in water, characteristics that made Lister develop a paste named ‘carbolic puttypoultice’ which acted as a scab that created a barrier to bacteria. In another cases, less concentrated solutions of phenol in water would be used to wash the skin around the wound, or clean other surgical instruments or even surgeons’ hands. Carbolic acid was such a good antiseptic that Lister invented a machine that would spray the substance in the air to kill any microorganisms in the surroundings. However, this would backfire due to the toxicity of phenol, which would have negative effects on those who inhaled the substance. This methods were used all around the world, but due to the harsh effects of carbolic acid, this substance is no longer used since new and better antiseptics have been develop, for example trichlorophenol and hexylresorcinol. Carbolic acid was an enormous breakthrough in the surgical field, but some other phenol derivatives have also been proven to have effects in health issues. Naturally occurring polyphenols like gossypol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate and the ones in red wine are examples. Gossypol, being toxic has been found to be a potential male contraceptive suppressing the sperm production. As for epigallocatechin-3-gallate, this compound has been shown to provide protection against various types of cancers, and the polyphenols in red wine have shown to slow the hardening of the arteries. Another naturally ocurring phenol which people tend to see as something negative is tetrahydrocannabinol, active ingredient in marijuana, and even though people tend to see it with bad eyes, this substance has its good points. Marijuana has also proven to have beneficial effects in public health, just like the other derivatives mentioned previously. This substance can treat nausea, pain, and other symptoms in people that are suffering from cancer, or AIDS, for example.

            Phenols are found in many other molecules, like pitric acid, capsaicin, zingerone, eugenol and isoeugenol. All this molecules discussed in previous entries have shown to have remarkable influences in history, and they are all part of the phenol family. Vanillin, the active ingredient in the loved vanilla is also a phenol. This molecule is found in the dried seedpods from the vanilla orchid, and the demand for it had long exceeded the sources available. Due to this a synthetic vanillin started to be developed from the lignin found in waste pulp liquor produced in the making of paper. When a lignin molecule was broken under controlled conditions, the vanillin could be produced. This vanillin was also not just a mere chemical imitation, it was actually pure vanillin.

            Adding to all this influences and effects that phenol derivatives have had in the world, phenol itself has also had one of the biggest impacts creating the Age of Plastics, as it was mentioned previously. In 1900, Leo Baekeland developed the first synthetic version of what we now call plastic, creating polymers that for the first time had not used cellulose. The funding for Baekeland’s discovery came with his previous production of new photography paper using a silver chloride emulsion, which made the develop of photographs more easy, and fast, and photography could eventually become more of an hobby, that most people enjoy today. This paper gave Baekeland the profit need to build his own lab, where he would open the doors to the Age of the Plastics. Everything started when he decided to produce artificial shellac which could be used for insulators. Baekeland made phenol react with formaldehyde, (compound derived from methanol) and after being able to control both the heat and pressure of the reaction, a liquid was produced which quickly hardened forming a transparent solid which could have the shape of any mold in which it was poured into. This shape would then be the one the solid would have forever since it could not be molded again (thermoset material). This substance was named Bakelite, and its rigidity was thanks to the cross-links formed along the polymer thanks to the ability of formaldehyde to react at three different places. Bakelite had shown to be a great material for innumerous uses. It was perfect as an electrical insulator, as a substitute to elephant’s ivory in billiard balls, and in a few years it was used in almost everywhere, like telephones, bowls, furniture, brushes, between many others. Even though some other phenol resins have superseded it, at this time, Bakelite was the ‘material for a thousand uses’.

            Phenol have for sure had an impact in the world, and the authors have shown that to the reader very well mentioning all the historical issues and situations where this molecule and its derivatives have had an impact. Phenol is found in so many molecules that for sure some of them would have had consequences in the world we live in. Phenols have saved lives, helped in health issues, been behind some of our most loved flavor molecules and without a doubt impacted our life. Even today phenol is used in many fields, and has the same importance to us just like in the past. Of course we don’t wake up thinking that phenol is important, but a lot of the products used and treasured nowadays also have phenol in their constitution, giving this molecule an important role in our lifes.