Abstract
Benzylation of toluene with benzyl alcohol in the presence of benzenesulphonic acid was studied statistically with a three-factored experimental design. Factorial design was employed to study the effect of factors and the interactions of two or more factors on the yield of benzylation. Temperature, the molar ratio of toluene to benzyl alcohol, and amount of catalyst were considered as major variables. A mathematical equation was derived with the help of experimental design to calculate the predicted yields under certain experimental conditions. The adequacy of the suggested model was checked.