What is a benzylic carbon atom?
1 Answer
Mar 27, 2016
It is the saturated carbon next to a benzene ring .
A phenyl carbon is the aromatic carbon that is directly connected to something outside of the ring. A phenyl group is a benzene ring directly attached to something else, like a carbon.
A benzylic carbon is simply the saturated carbon, while a benzyl group is a benzene ring attached to something else one more carbon away.
On the left is benzyl bromide (or bromophenylmethane), and on the right is phenyl bromide (or bromobenzene).