yield of ester will be obtained. Less than 1 per cent of benzoic
acid will not interfere seriously with the yields obtained,
but the presence of larger quantities of acid will be found to be
detrimental and must be removed by washing the benzaldehyde with
a sodium carbonate solution and redistilling with the precautions
necessary to prevent too free an access of air to the distillate.

The order of mixing the reagents and the temperature of the ingredients
at the time of mixing are the most important factors in the experiment.
The temperature at which the reaction mixture is maintained
after mixing, provided that it is held below 100'0, is less important
from the standpoint of purity.

The reaction mixture is not treated with acetic acid, as usually
recommended, for the reason that such a procedure yields a final
product contaminated with benzoic acid, unless an alkaline wash
is applied subsequently.

The recovered benzyl alcohol can be used for the preparation
of a second lot of benzyl benzoate only after it has been boiled
with strong sodium hydroxide to remove all traces of benzaldehyde.


3. Other Methods of Preparation

Benzyl benzoate has been identified in certain natural plant
products.[1] In the laboratory it has been prepared by the action of
(_a_) benzoyl chloride upon benzyl alcohol,[2] (_b_) benzyl chloride
upon sodium benzoate, and (_c_) alcoholates upon benzaldehyde.[3]
Recently, Gomberg and Buchler[4] have shown that reaction (_b_) may