How will you prepare benzoic acid from ethyl benzene in not more than two steps?

Explanation

To prepare benzoic acid from ethyl benzene in not more than two steps, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Oxidation of Ethyl Benzene
- **Reagents**: Use potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in the presence of a base (like KOH).
- **Reaction**: Ethyl benzene (C6H5-CH2-CH3) is oxidized by KMnO4. The benzylic hydrogens (the hydrogens attached to the carbon next to the benzene ring) are oxidized to form a carboxylate ion (C6H5-COO^-).

\[
\text{C}_6\text{H}_5\text{-CH}_2\text{-CH}_3 \xrightarrow{\text{KMnO}_4/\text{KOH}} \text{C}_6\text{H}_5\text{-COO}^- + \text{other products}
...