What follows is a speculation.
You deviated substantially from the procedure. It says "(t)he finely powdered mixture of potassium salicylate and carbonate". You must dry and powder
the salicylate before adding the carbonate, rather than add carbonate to the salicylate solution.
Also, you used sodium carbonate and potassium hydroxide. Supposing that the appropriate amount of potassium carbonate was produced, you ended up with
some sodium hydroxide in the mix. As far as I remember, a mixture of sodium and potassium hydroxides is used in decarboxylations; that should explain
the presence of phenol. |