Question

I have a confusion regarding the nomenclature of phenol compounds, ? Please let me explain why Resorcinol is not named as 3 - Hydroxy phenol ????

Answer 1

It is......(or at least that is one of the names used for it)

Explanation:

The compound is most commonly known by the trivial name "Resorcinol", however, the systematic IUPAC name is "benzene-1,3-diol".

But there are other names that are sometimes used for it, and among them are names that treat the compound as a phenol derivative..

If you take the substituent OH group of phenol to be in ring position no.1, then in Resorcinol the second OH group is meta to the first (i.e. there is one ring position between the two groups). It means that the 2nd OH group is in ring position 3, so it can also be named "3-hydroxyphenol".