Benzyl Alcohol

BENZYL ALCOHOL (or B. alcohol), or benzyl-carbinol, C₆H₅.CH₂OH, the simplest alcohol of the aromatic series, is found in the form of esters of benzoic and cinnamic acids in storax, in Peruvian and tolu balsams; in pure form and in the form of esters of acetic, benzoic, and salicylic acids—in the essential oils of jasmine, ylang-ylang, white acacia, cinnamon, etc. B. a. is a colorless liquid with a weak pleasant odor, soluble in 35 parts water, easily in alcohol and ether; sp. gr. at 15°-1.050; boils at 206°. It is obtained: 1) from benzaldehyde, C₆H₅.CHO, by the action of caustic potash (2C₆H₅.CHO+KOH = C₆H₅.COOK + C₆H₅.CH₂OH); 2) from benzyl chloride, C₆H₅.CH₂Cl, by boiling with a 10% solution of potash or by converting it into acetate and decomposing the latter with caustic alkali; 3) from benzamide, C₆H₅.CO.NH₂, by reduction with sodium amalgam, etc. It is used in perfumery as a solvent, replacing ethyl alcohol, and for the preparation of aromatic esters of benzoic and acetic acids, etc.