What does chlorobenzene mean?
Chlorobenzene is a colorless, flammable organic liquid consisting of a benzene ring in which a single hydrogen atom has been replaced by chlorine, giving the formula C6H5Cl. It boils at about 132 °C, smells faintly of almonds like many aromatics, and is only slightly soluble in water. Industrially it is made by chlorinating benzene and serves two main roles: as a relatively stable, high-boiling solvent for paints, resins, adhesives, and degreasing operations, and as a chemical building block whose reactions yield phenol, nitrochlorobenzenes, dyes, pesticides, and rubber-processing chemicals. Because it is toxic, persistent, and harmful to aquatic life, its use has declined in some applications, and it appears mainly in technical contexts such as chemistry literature, patents, and environmental monitoring reports. The plural, chlorobenzenes, usually refers collectively to this compound and its related multi-chlorinated derivatives.
nounA colorless, flammable aromatic liquid (C6H5Cl) with an almond-like odor, made by chlorinating benzene and used chiefly as a solvent and as an intermediate in the manufacture of other chemicals such as phenol, nitrochlorobenzenes, and dyes.
- A colorless, flammable aromatic liquid, C6H5Cl, produced by chlorinating benzene and used as a high-boiling solvent and chemical intermediate in making phenol, nitrochlorobenzenes, dyes, and pesticides.
"The plant switched its degreasing line from chlorobenzene to a less toxic solvent after new regulations took effect."
"Chlorobenzene's high boiling point of about 132 °C makes it useful as a reaction medium where water or lighter solvents would boil away."
"Soil samples near the old factory showed traces of residual chlorobenzene decades after the site closed."
Usually refers collectively to chlorobenzene and its multi-chlorinated derivatives rather than multiple instances of the pure compound.
"Regulators monitor chlorobenzenes as a group because several derivatives share similar toxicity profiles."
Chlorobenzene was one of the first organochlorines ever mass-produced, and for decades the Dow process used it to churn out phenol on an industrial scale — all from little more than benzene and chlorine.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chlorobenzene
The name combines chloro-, from Greek chloros meaning 'pale green' or 'yellow-green,' coined in the early 19th century for chlorine by Humphry Davy, with benzene, which derives through German Benzol and French benzène from gum benzoin, ultimately traced to Arabic lubān jāwī ('frankincense of Java'). The compound name arose in 19th-century organic chemistry as chemists systematically named substitution products of benzene. Related cognates include chlorine, chlorophyll, chloroform, and benzoin.
How chlorobenzene is actually used
A purely technical term found in chemistry texts, patents, safety data sheets, and environmental reports; never used in everyday speech. In formal naming conventions it may be written monochlorobenzene when distinction from dichloro- and trichlorobenzenes matters.
Easily confused with chlorobenzene
Benzene is the parent hydrocarbon C6H6, while chlorobenzene is benzene with one hydrogen atom replaced by a chlorine atom.
Chloroform (CHCl3) is a heavy anesthetic solvent with no benzene ring, whereas chlorobenzene is an aromatic ring compound bearing a single chlorine.