Benzyl Chloride
benzyl chloride
[′ben·zəl ′klȯr‚īd]Benzyl Chloride
an organic compound, C6H5CH2CI; a colorless liquid with a sharp odor; Tb = 179.3° C. Benzyl chloride is not water-soluble; it is miscible in alcohol, chloroform, and other organic solvents. When heated with water, benzyl chloride gradually hydrolyzes to form benzyl alcohol. Benzyl chloride is obtained industrially by passing chlorine through toluene that has been heated to 90°-100° C and contains 1 percent PCl3.
Benzyl chloride is used to obtain benzyl alcohol and, more importantly, benzyl cellulose, which is widely used in the production of plastics, films, electrical insulating materials, and lacquers.