I would expect phenol to be considerably more soluble in ethanol than in water. The alkyl groups of ethanol will help to solubilize the non-polar aromatic ring of phenol. You could check the CRC handbook of chemistry and physics (your university should have it online, or a paper copy in the library) and it would give you the number for sure.

BTW solubility always increases with temperature, regardless of solvent.

Hope this is helpful - James

Thank you James.

We don't appear to have access to either paper or online copy of CRC. I've had a look in MERCK Index, but that wasn't terribly helpful.

The situation I have is actually a little different than I originally made out; I have fuchsin (cationic dye) dissolved in phenol, which is itself in a lipid enviroment. The phenol has a higer affinity for the lipid than water unless the water is heated, at which point the phenol moves accross to water. When we use ethanol however, we don't see the same. My thinking is that the phenol (carbonic fuchsin to be precise) is more soluble in lipid and water than ethanol. Of course there is also the possibility of salts interferring.

Andrew

Andrew, you could also submit your question to chemicalforums (http://www.chemicalforums.com/) - a lot of knowledgeable people hang out on that site. I'd suggest putting in as many details as you can.