Conversion of Benzene into phenylacetic acid

Explanation

To convert benzene into phenylacetic acid, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Friedel-Crafts Alkylation
- **Reaction**: Benzene reacts with an alkyl chloride (like chloroethane) in the presence of anhydrous aluminum chloride (AlCl3) as a catalyst.
- **Product**: This reaction introduces a methyl group to benzene, forming toluene (C6H5CH3).

**Chemical Equation**:
\[ \text{C}_6\text{H}_6 + \text{CH}_3\text{Cl} \xrightarrow{\text{AlCl}_3} \text{C}_6\text{H}_5\text{CH}_3 \]
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