[kirushanth]

Which are the highly manufactured organic industrial compounds?
I heard that phenol tops the list.
I am not able to get it by a google search.

[fledarmus]

Check C&E News - I believe the first issue in July, they usually publish an issue with production figures for major chemicals being manufactured.

[PhDoc]

From Wikipedia,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol

"The major uses of phenol, consuming two thirds of its production, involve its conversion to plastics or related materials. Condensation with acetone gives bisphenol-A, a key precursor to polycarbonates and epoxide resins. Condensation of phenol, alkylphenols, or diphenols with formaldehyde gives phenolic resins, a famous example of which is Bakelite. Hydrogenation of phenol gives cyclohexanone, a precursor to nylon. Nonionic detergents are produced by alkylation of phenol to give the alkylphenols, e.g., nonylphenol, which are then subjected to ethoxylation.[4]

Phenol is also a versatile precursor to a large collection of drugs, most notably aspirin but also many herbicides and pharmaceutical drugs. Phenol is also used as an oral anesthetic/analgesic in products such as Chloraseptic or other brand name and generic equivalents, commonly used to temporarily treat pharyngitis"

Basically, phenol is a fundamental building block in organic synthesis, and it's expected to be produced on a very large scale. Please go to your organic chemistry book under the Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution section to read more about the utility of phenol in organic synthesis.