 In 1833, Eilhard Mitscherlich produced it by distilling benzoic acid (from gum benzoin) and lime.He gave the compound the name "benzin".In 1836, the French chemist Auguste Laurent named the substance "phène"; this word has become the root of the English word "phenol", which is hydroxylated benzene, and "phenyl", the radical formed by abstraction of a hydrogen atom (free radical H•) from benzene.