Aromatic alcohols of pH 1 turned emulsive, essentially (7)

I believe the answer is:

phenols

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'aromatic alcohols' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both substances as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'ph 1 turned emulsive essentially' is the wordplay.
'1' becomes 'one' (synonyms).
'turned' says the letters should be written backwards.
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
The middle letters of 'emulsive' are 'ls'.
'one' backwards is 'eno'.
'ph'+'eno'+'ls'='PHENOLS'

'of' is the link.

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I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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