Formaldehyde condensations with phenol and its homologues. XVII. The chemical complexity of resins

Abstract

Abstract Calculations previously reported on the theoretical numbers of isomerides of phenol–methylene type present in phenolic resins are extended. The case of o ‐cresol and related bifunctional phenols is comparatively simple, partly because no branching of chains is possible. In the case of phenol itself the number of isomerides increases enormously with chain length, while branched derivatives contribute increasingly to the number present in the higher homologues. m ‐Cresol provides an even more complex example. The inadequacy of conventional synthetic and analytical methods for elucidation of chemical structure is stressed. General formulae are derived for calculating the numbers of certain types of isomerides.