Wiktionary
n. 1 (context organic compound uncountable English) A colourless solid hydrocarbon, C12H10, consisting of two benzene rings linked together 2 (context organic compound countable English) Any substituted or otherwise altered version of biphenyl, such as PCBs
Wikipedia
Biphenyl (or diphenyl or phenylbenzene or 1,1′-biphenyl or lemonene) is an organic compound that forms colorless crystals.
It has a distinctively pleasant smell. Biphenyl is an aromatic hydrocarbon with a molecular formula (CH). It is notable as a starting material for the production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were once widely used as dielectric fluids and heat transfer agents.
Biphenyl is also an intermediate for the production of a host of other organic compounds such as emulsifiers, optical brighteners, crop protection products, and plastics. Biphenyl is insoluble in water, but soluble in typical organic solvents. The biphenyl molecule consists of two connected phenyl rings.
Usage examples of "biphenyl".
So polychlorinated biphenyl and polychlorinated dibenzodioxin are structurally similar compounds.
PCB: Polychlorinated biphenyls, a group of organic compounds notorious for their deposition and accumulation in polar environments, as by arctic distillation.
The onboard incinerators could achieve Fahrenheit temperatures above 2500 degrees, hot enough to dispose of even the dreaded chemical polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs.
That biphenyl or dibenzodioxin structure - the twelve-pack - dissolves easily in fat.
General Electric to clean up the polychlorinated biphenyls that the company has dumped into the river for decades.
It may be a little too simple-minded to make the extremist possible assumption-that it'll convert all the salt in the earth's oceans to polychlorinated biphenyls.
Most of the units in use contained PBBs, polybrominated biphenyls, as a cooling element within the power transformer.
Makes some pretty lethal side products, too–chlorinated benzenes, polychlorinated biphenyls, all kinds of crap.