Conversion of Benzyl alcohol to phenylacetic acid

Explanation

To convert benzyl alcohol to phenylacetic acid, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Convert Benzyl Alcohol to Benzyl Chloride
- **Reaction**: Benzyl alcohol reacts with thionyl chloride (SOCl2).
- **Mechanism**: The hydroxyl (-OH) group of benzyl alcohol is converted to a chloride (-Cl) group, resulting in the formation of benzyl chloride.
- **Equation**:
\[
\text{C}_6\text{H}_5\text{CH}_2\text{OH} + \text{SOCl}_2 \rightarrow \text{C}_6\text{H}_5\text{CH}_2\text{Cl} + \text{SO}_2 + \text{HCl}
...