In the industrial production of phenol via Dow's process, chlorobenzene is fused with to yield a phe — Alcohols Phenols and Ethers Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

Due to the partial double bond character of the $C-Cl$ bond in chlorobenzene (arising from resonance), it is highly resistant to standard nucleophilic substitution. Dow's process requires extreme conditions: heating with $NaOH$ at approximately $623\text{ K}$ ($350^\circ\text{C}$) under $300\text{ atm}$ pressure to form sodium phenoxide, which is subsequently acidified.