Thiophenol

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An aromatic organic compound consisting of a benzene ring with a thiol group attached, having the chemical formula C₆H₅SH
2. A sulfur-containing benzene derivative where a hydrogen atom bonded to sulfur replaces one hydrogen on the ring, commonly used in organic synthesis
3. An organosulfur compound made of a phenyl group bonded to a thiol group, serving as a reagent and intermediate in chemical production

Etymology: Thiophenol is a chemical coinage, and its name is built from two pieces of Greek that had nothing to do with each other in their original use. The first part, "thio-", comes from the Greek "theîon", meaning sulphur, which itself traces back to "théeion", a word for the element that was known and used long before modern chemistry. The second part, "phenol", descends from the Greek "phaínō", meaning "to shine" or "to appear," through French "phène," a name given to a substance first obtained from illuminating gas, since the same root gave the chemist's word for a compound once distilled from that gas. Put together, the word names a phenol in which sulphur has replaced an oxygen atom, a compound that chemists coined by joining the familiar names of its two parts. It is a plain technical formation rather than a word with a story of popular use, and its two halves retain their original meanings: sulphur and shining.

Synonyms: phenyl mercaptan