Air Fresheners Phenol by Joe Lenthall , Magdalen College School, Oxford.
Phenol is found naturally in decaying dead organic matter like rotting vegetables and in coal.
It was first isolated in 1834 from coal tar and this remained the main source of phenol until the First World War. The first synthetic method was then devised and all of the phenol today is man made. The prolonged sulphonation of benzene produces a benzene sulphonic acid, which, when fused with caustic alkalis, form a phenol. Click here to see 3D structure. The largest use for phenol is in low cost, versatile resins.