ABSTRACT
Presently, more than 8,000 different phenolic compounds have been identified. Therefore, there is the need to classify them. However, there is no consensus regarding a classification system for phenolics. In general, phenolic compounds have been classified using the following four methods: (1) As flavonoids and nonflavonoids, (2) by number of aromatic rings, (3) by carbon skeleton, and (4) by basic chemical structure. For educational purposes, herein we propose to first classify phenolics by the number of aromatic rings, followed by carbon skeletons, and finally by basic chemical structures. This chapter shows the classification of phenolic compounds using this method followed by a brief description of each phenolic group.
