Biphenyl

biphenyl, also called Diphenyl, an aromatic hydrocarbon, used alone or with diphenyl ether as a heat-transfer fluid; chemical formula, C₆H₅C₆H₅. It may be isolated from coal tar; in the United States, it is manufactured on a large scale by the thermal dehydrogenation of benzene.

Biphenyl is slightly less reactive chemically than benzene. It is chlorinated industrially to a mixture, polychlorinated biphenyl (q.v.), known as PCB, which is now much restricted because of its toxicity but formerly was used in paper coatings and as a lubricant and a heat-transfer fluid. Pure biphenyl is a colourless crystalline solid with a pleasant odour; it is insoluble in water but soluble in ordinary organic solvents.