Question

How will you bring the following conversions?
Phenol to benzyl alcohol

Answer 1

Phenol is a compound which is armatic in form. It has a hydroxyl group attached to the benzene ring. It has the ability to dissolve in water. it has the tendency to be corrosive in eyes and on skin. It is mildly acidic. It is a crystalline solid which is white in colour.

Complete step by step answer:
So to convert the phenol into the benzyl group we need to first reduce it by using the zinc dust. Then the compound which is formed after reduction will apply the friedel craft reaction there. Then the compound which we get we need to react it with chlorine under sunlight then react to the formed compound with sodium hydroxide to get the desired product called benzyl alcohol. Look at the following reactions for understanding:

So, on reaction of zinc dust with phenol we got benzene then on reacting benzene with methyl chloride under aluminium chloride we got toluene then on reaction of toluene with chlorine under sunlight we got benzyl chloride then on reaction of benzyl chloride with sodium hydroxide we got benzyl alcohol.

Note: Phenol is considered as the constituent of coal tar. There are different types of phenol such as monohydric phenol, dihydric phenol and trihydric phenols. We can synthesize phenol by the sulphonic acids method and diazonium salts. It is used as an antiseptic, producing nylon, preservation of vaccines, in formation of plastics and production of detergents.