It is a colourless, fuming liquid with an irritating odour, and consists of a benzene ring (C6H6) with an acyl chloride (−C(=O)Cl) substituent.
It is mainly useful for the production of peroxides but is generally useful in other areas such as in the preparation of dyes, perfumes, pharmaceuticals, and resins.
[3] An early method for production of benzoyl chloride involved chlorination of benzyl alcohol.
[5][6] It undergoes the Friedel-Crafts acylation with aromatic compounds to give the corresponding benzophenones and related derivatives.
[8] Benzoyl peroxide, a common reagent in polymer chemistry, is produced industrially by treating benzoyl chloride with hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide:[9]