A colourless liquid hydrocarbon, C6H6; r.d. 0.88; m.p. 5.5°C; b.p. 80.1°C. It is now made from gasoline from petroleum by catalytic reforming (formerly obtained from coal tar). Benzene is the archetypal aromatic compound. It has an unsaturated molecule, yet will not readily undergo addition reactions. On the other hand, it does undergo substitution reactions in which hydrogen atoms are replaced by other atoms or groups. This behaviour occurs because of delocalization of p-electrons over the benzene ring, and all the C–C bonds in benzene are equivalent and intermediate in length between single and double bonds. It can be regarded as a resonance hybrid of Kekulé and Dewar structures (see formulae). In formulae it can be represented by a hexagon with a ring inside it.
Benzene
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