Phenylmethanol can be prepared by reducing the benzaldehyde with `:`

Options

A. `CH_(3)Br`
B. Zn-Hg and HCl
C. Na and ethanol
D. `KMnO_(4)` and KOH

Answer

To prepare phenylmethanol from benzaldehyde, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the Reactant and Product**:
- The reactant we have is **benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO)**.
- The product we want to prepare is **phenylmethanol (C6H5CH2OH)**.

2. **Understanding the Reaction**:
- Benzaldehyde contains a carbonyl group (C=O) which can be reduced to a primary alcohol. In this case, we want to convert the carbonyl group in benzaldehyde to a hydroxyl group (-OH) to form phenylmethanol.

3. **Choosing the Reducing Agent**:
- We need a suitable reducing agent that can reduce the carbonyl group of benzaldehyde to an alcohol.
- A common reducing agent for this type of reaction is **sodium (Na)** in the presence of **ethanol (C2H5OH)**.

4. **Reaction Mechanism**:
- When benzaldehyde is treated with sodium in ethanol, the sodium donates electrons to the carbonyl carbon, reducing it to a methylene (-CH2-) group.
- The reaction can be represented as:
\[ C6H5CHO + Na + C2H5OH \rightarrow C6H5CH2OH + NaOH \]
- This results in the formation of phenylmethanol.

5. **Conclusion**:
- Therefore, phenylmethanol can be prepared by reducing benzaldehyde using **sodium in the presence of ethanol**.

### Final Answer:
Phenylmethanol can be prepared by reducing benzaldehyde with **sodium in the presence of ethanol**.

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