Solved: One of the earliest commercial plastics was Bakelite, formed by the reaction of

Chapter 0, Problem 26-33

(choose chapter or problem)

One of the earliest commercial plastics was Bakelite, formed by the reaction of phenol with a little more than one equivalent of formaldehyde under acidic or basic conditions. Baeyer first discovered this reaction in 1872, and practical methods for casting and molding Bakelite were developed around 1909. Phenol-formaldehyde plastics and resins (also called phenolics) are highly cross-linked because each phenol ring has three sites (two ortho and one para) that can be linked by condensation with formaldehyde. Suggest a general structure for a phenol-formaldehyde resin, and propose a mechanism for its formation under acidic conditions. (Hint: Condensation of phenol with formaldehyde resembles the condensation of phenol with acetone, used in 26-17, to make bisphenol A.)