Question

How will you convert benzaldehyde into the following compound?

α-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid

Answer 1

Conversion of benzaldehyde into 2-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid:

\[\begin{array}{cc}
\phantom{................}\ce{H}\phantom{.......................}\ce{H}\phantom{}\\
\phantom{................}|\phantom{........................}|\phantom{}\\
\ce{\underset{(Benzaldehyde)}{C6H5CHO} ->[HCN] C6H5 - C - CN ->[H^+/H2O][excess] C6H5 - C - COOH}\\
\phantom{................}|\phantom{........................}|\phantom{}\\
\phantom{.....................}\ce{\underset{(Phenyl cyanohydrin)}{OH}}\phantom{.......}\ce{\underset{α-hydroxy phenyl acetic acid}{OH}}\phantom{}
\end{array}\]