Treatment of benzoic acid with `Cl_(2)//FeCl_(3)` will give

Options

A. p-chlorobenzoic acid
B. o-chlorobenzoic acid
C. 2-4-dichlorobenzoic acid
D. m-chlorobenzoic acid

Answer

To solve the question regarding the treatment of benzoic acid with `Cl2/FeCl3`, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the Reactants**: The reactants in this reaction are benzoic acid (C6H5COOH) and chlorine (Cl2) in the presence of iron(III) chloride (FeCl3).

2. **Understand the Reaction Type**: The reaction is an electrophilic substitution reaction. In this case, it is a halogenation reaction where chlorine will be substituted onto the benzene ring of benzoic acid.

3. **Determine the Directing Effects**: The carboxylic acid group (COOH) is an electron-withdrawing group. This means it decreases the electron density on the benzene ring, making it less reactive towards electrophiles. Additionally, the COOH group is a meta-directing group, meaning that it directs incoming electrophiles (in this case, chlorine) to the meta position relative to itself.

4. **Identify the Positions on the Benzene Ring**: The benzene ring has six positions:
- Ortho (adjacent to COOH)
- Meta (one carbon away from COOH)
- Para (opposite to COOH)

5. **Predict the Product**: Since the COOH group is meta-directing, the chlorine will be substituted at the meta position. Therefore, the product of the reaction will be meta-chlorobenzoic acid.

6. **Write the Final Product**: The chemical structure of meta-chlorobenzoic acid can be represented as:
- C6H4ClCOOH (where Cl is at the meta position relative to the COOH group).

### Final Answer:
The treatment of benzoic acid with `Cl2/FeCl3` will give **meta-chlorobenzoic acid**.

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