Quinol and Hydroxyquinol from the Ethereal Sulphate Fraction of the Urine of Rabbits Receiving Benzene Orally

[n the preceding paper it was shown that the average sum of the glucuronic acid and ethereal sulphate conjugations ofrabbits receiving benzene orally was about 20 %, and it was assumed that the conjugates excreted were those of phenolic substances. Of these phenols about one half was shown quantitatively to be phenol whereas the other half was probably a mixture of other phenols such as catechol and quinol. hi the present paper it will be proved by actual isolation that the urine ofbenzene-fed rabbits contains four phenols, namely phenol, catechol, quinol and hydroxyquinol (1:2:4-trihydroxybenzene). Phenol and catechol have been isolated from 'benzene urines' by earlier workers (Munk, 1876; Nencki & Giacosa, 1880), but we report the isolation of quinol and hydroxyquinol for the first time. We also looked for pyrogallol and dihydroxydihydrobenzene, but found no evidence that they are metabolites of benzene.