m makosza et al j org chem 1998 63 4199 4208 to prepare cyanophenols the nitro group has to be converted to a cyano group in a complicated manner t senba and k sakano jp 09023893 and h semba et al describe the enzymatic synthesis of phenols appl microbiol biotechnol 1996 46 432 437 however the low space time yields and the long reaction times mean that this process cannot be utilized in an economic manner the synthesis of phenols from anilines by diazotization and decomposition of the diazonium compound in the presence of metals particularly copper salts has also been known for some time even though more recent studies have attempted to optimize the process b c gilbert et al ep 596 684 this route nevertheless always leads via a diazonium compound which is difficult to handle according to s prouilhac cros et al the preparation of phenols from arylsilanes with h202 and stoichiometric amounts of fluoride leads to phenols in good yields bull soc chim fr 1995 132 513 16 however the arylsilane required is not sufficiently available in industrial quantities the synthesis of phenols from aryl methyl ethers with ethanethiolates is restricted to laboratory applications j a dodge et al j org chem 1995 60 739 41.