A tentative detection of phenol (C₆H₅OH) was reported in 2013 by Kolesniková et al. based upon their new rotational spectral data for the ground and first excited vibrational states of the molecule. While a number of line matches were found in the IRAM 30m survey of Orion KL of Tercero et al. (see also here and here.), the detection was not unambiguous and is thus considered tentative.

Phenol is a well-known compound in terrestrial chemistry, where billions of kilograms of it are produced annually to use as feedstock for the production of many other compounds. It's a cousin of another benzene derivative, benzonitrile, which was detected in 2018.