Phenylacetic acid vendor found???

[ztar7]

So I found something extremely strange and surprising. I feel it has to be a mistake, but there’s a tractor supply vendor that I found that is selling a self branded product called phenylacetic acid.

see picture. Attempted to blur out the company name but I’m sure anyone can find it.
I ordered some and can confirm it even has the honey smell.
What are the chances of this being real ? Any easy way to test it ?

edit - just goes to show how little I know of this topic, but I just realized PAA is a solid not a liquid. I wonder why they named it this ?

 

[The-Hive]

Melting point	76 to 77 °C (169 to 171 °F; 349 to 350 K)
Boiling point	265.5 °C (509.9 °F; 538.6 K)

it is possible to come in liquid form as a few chemical companies sell it as liquid

 

[Ranof]

1. Solubility Test in Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH):
Observation: Phenylacetic acid is insoluble in water but dissolves in dilute NaOH solution.

Reason: The carboxylic acid group deprotonates in basic solution, forming the water-soluble carboxylate salt.

2. Formation of Derivatives (Ester or Amide):
Phenylacetic acid reacts with alcohols (e.g., ethanol) in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid to form esters.

Indirect Identification: The melting point or boiling point of the derived ester or amide can be used for compound verification.

3. Reaction with Thionyl Chloride (SOCl₂):
Phenylacetic acid reacts with SOCl₂ to form phenylacetyl chloride.

This acyl chloride can then be reacted with an alcohol or amine to form an ester or amide, which can serve as a solid derivative for identification.

4. Reaction with Fehling’s or Tollen’s Reagents:
Phenylacetic acid gives negative results with both Fehling's and Tollen's tests.

Significance: The negative result confirms the absence of an aldehyde group, helping distinguish it from aromatic aldehydes like benzaldehyde.


If you have access to an FTIR device or know a lab that does these tests, give them a small sample and send them the results so I can tell if this substance is phenylacetic acid or not.

But if you don't have access,
chemical tests will suffice.

5. Spectroscopic Confirmation:
FT-IR: Strong C=O stretching near 1700 cm⁻¹ and broad O–H stretching above 3000 cm⁻¹.

¹H-NMR: Methylene (–CH₂–) protons adjacent to phenyl and carboxylic acid typically appear around 3.5–3.8 ppm; aromatic protons appear in the 7–8 ppm range.

 

[The-Hive]

Solubility in water

15 g/L