Dihydroxybenzenes

In organic chemistry, dihydroxybenzenes (benzenediols) are organic compounds in which two hydroxyl groups () are substituted onto a benzene ring (). These aromatic compounds are classed as phenols. There are three structural isomers: 1,2-dihydroxybenzene (the ortho isomer) is commonly known as catechol, 1,3-dihydroxybenzene (the meta isomer) is commonly known as resorcinol, and 1,4-dihydroxybenzene (the para isomer) is commonly known as hydroquinone. {| class="wikitable" |- !Isomer !ortho !meta !para |- |Trivial name |Catechol |Resorcinol |Hydroquinone |- |IUPAC name |benzene-1,2-diol |benzene