A chemical compound where a benzene ring is bonded to a carbon chain with three chlorine atoms attached, used as an intermediate in organic synthesis.
From 'benzo-' (benzene) + 'trichloride' (three chlorine atoms; from Latin 'tri-' three, plus 'chloride'). Created in the 19th century as industrial chemistry developed methods for adding multiple halogen atoms to aromatic compounds.
Benzotrichloride smells pungent and irritating because those three chlorine atoms make it very reactive—it's historically important because it was one of the first compounds mass-produced through photochemical reactions (using light energy), which became a model for industrial chemistry.
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