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Why is benzyl chloride an alkyl halide rather than an aryl halide?

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organohalogen compound Vinyl chloride is an organohalogen compound that has important industrial applications. When treated with certain catalysts, vinyl chloride monomers undergo polymerization and form the larger compound known as polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. PVC is used in the manufacture of numerous products, including packaging films and water pipes.

Benzyl chloride is classified as an alkyl halide rather than an aryl halide because of the specific carbon atom to which the halogen is attached.

In organohalogen compounds, the classification is determined by the nature of the carbon atom directly bonded to the halogen. In an aryl halide, the halogen must be bonded to a carbon atom that is part of an aromatic ring. In contrast, the carbon atom that bears the chlorine in benzyl chloride (C₆H₅CH₂Cl) is not part of the benzene ring itself; rather, it is a side-chain carbon that is singly bonded to the other atoms attached to it. Because this halogen-bearing carbon is not part of the aromatic system, the compound is categorized as an alkyl halide, despite the presence of the benzene ring in the molecule.1