The invention provides a method for synthesizing
phenylacetic acid from carbonyl, and belongs to the technical field of
phenylacetic acid synthesis. According to the method,
benzyl chloride,
sodium hydroxide and CO are taken as raw materials, a tetracarbonyl
cobalt-
methanol solution is taken as a catalyst,
sodium phenylacetate is generated through a
carbonylation reaction at a certain temperatureand pressure, and then extraction, acidification,
filtration and
crystallization are performed to obtain a product, namely
phenylacetic acid. According to the invention, the tetracarbonyl
cobalt-
methanol solution is taken as a catalyst, which has better activity and economy, and is more easily recovered than
metal catalysts such as
rhodium,
platinum, iron,
manganese and the like, and the
cobalt recovery rate is up to 90% or more than 90%; the process provided by the invention is performed at low pressure and low temperature, the
reaction conditions are mild, the
material requirements on equipment are low, no poisons or odors are produced during the process, by-products generated are easy to be separated and treated, and the process is less in
pollution and environmentally-friendly; the conversion rate of the raw materials is 99% or more than 99%; the yield of phenylacetic acid is 85% or more than 85%; and the purity of phenylacetic acid is 99.0% or more than 99.0%.