How will you bring the following conversions?Phenol to benzyl alcohol

To convert phenol to benzyl alcohol, you can use the Clemmensen reduction or the Wolff-Kishner reduction. Here are the general procedures for both methods:

Method 1: Clemmensen Reduction

The Clemmensen reduction is a chemical reaction that reduces carbonyl groups (in this case, a ketone) to their corresponding alcohols. Here's how you can use it to convert phenol to benzyl alcohol:

Materials Needed:

Phenol
Zinc amalgam (a mixture of zinc and mercury)
Concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl)
Procedure:

In a round-bottom flask, add phenol.
Add zinc amalgam to the flask.
Add concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl) to the flask to create a reaction mixture.
Heat the reaction mixture under reflux conditions. Reflux means that the volatile components evaporate, condense, and return to the reaction mixture. This helps ensure the reaction proceeds to completion.
Continue refluxing for a suitable amount of time (several hours to overnight) until the reaction is complete.
Allow the reaction mixture to cool.
Extract the benzyl alcohol from the mixture using a suitable solvent (e.g., dichloromethane).
Remove any remaining impurities or solvents by standard purification techniques, such as filtration or distillation.
Method 2: Wolff-Kishner Reduction

The Wolff-Kishner reduction is another method to convert a carbonyl group to an alcohol. In this case, it involves converting phenol to benzyl alcohol by first converting phenol to benzaldehyde and then reducing the aldehyde.

Materials Needed:

Phenol
Hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H2O)
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
Ethylene glycol
Procedure:

In a round-bottom flask, add phenol.
Add hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H2O) to the flask.
Add sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to the flask.
Heat the reaction mixture to reflux (boiling) conditions. This will convert phenol to benzaldehyde.
After the conversion to benzaldehyde is complete, cool the mixture.
Add ethylene glycol to the cooled mixture, which will reduce benzaldehyde to benzyl alcohol.
Heat the mixture again to reflux conditions to ensure the reduction reaction is complete.
Allow the reaction mixture to cool.
Extract the benzyl alcohol from the mixture using a suitable solvent (e.g., dichloromethane).
Remove any remaining impurities or solvents by standard purification techniques.
Both methods should yield benzyl alcohol from phenol. Please note that these reactions should be performed with caution in a controlled laboratory environment, and safety precautions should be followed. Additionally, specific reaction conditions (temperature, time, concentrations) may need to be optimized for the best results.