Before entering fully into the the term benzene, it is necessary to discover its etymological origin. In this case, it must be stated that it is the sum of two clearly delimited components:
-The noun “benzoe” which derives from Arabic and which was the name given to the Javanese incense.
-The suffix “-eno”, which is the ending that is used within the field of chemistry to name what hydrocarbons are.
The term benzene is used to refer to an aromatic hydrocarbon that has six carbon atoms and has a ring structure. It is a colorless, flammable liquid that is used as a reagent and as a solvent.
It should be remembered that a hydrocarbon is an organic compound that combines carbon and hydrogen atoms. Its molecular shape, therefore, is based on the bonding of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms in chains that can be branched or linear and closed or open.
According to DigoPaul, benzene has six carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms that make up a hexagon. At the vertices of this figure appear the carbon atoms, with three single and three double bonds that are located in alternate positions.
The discoverer of benzene was the British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867), when he succeeded in isolating gas from lighting in 1825 and detected this molecule. The German August Kekulé (1829-1896), for his part, was the one who first represented benzene with three double bonds. Later, the American Linus Pauling (1901-1994) postulated the mesomerism or resonance of benzene: a tool that allows the representation of a molecular structure through the linear combination of the theoretical structures that do not coincide with the real structures.
Benzene is one of the most widely used chemicals in the world. It is used for the production of nylon, resins, plastics, lubricants, rubbers, detergents and dyes. Benzene is even used to make pesticides and certain drugs.
At a natural level, benzene is found in crude oil and is produced in wildfires. Lastly, the smoke from cigarettes and gasoline also contain benzene.
In addition to all the characteristics mentioned about benzene, we can present other equally relevant and interesting ones such as these:
-It boils at 80.1º C. -In
the same way, it is useful to know that it melts at 5.4º C.
– It has a really strong smell.
-It is established that it is lighter than water.
-While it must be taken into consideration that it is insoluble in water, it is necessary to know that it is very soluble, on the contrary, in solvents such as ether, ethanol or cyclohexane, for example.
-It’s really toxic.
– Chemists and experts from similar scientific areas come to determine that it has a bitter taste, specifically, burnt.
-It must be stressed, at the same time, that it is considered one of the most relevant pollutants that can exist in interior spaces. And it can be released from decoration elements to carpets, furniture made with conglomerate, vinyls, wood coatings, cleaning products and even paints.