Phenyl Propionate is a drug used to treat protein malabsorption. It functions similarly to testosterone but has a more powerful anabolic effect, being 12 times stronger than testosterone propionate. It also exhibits a 1.5 times stronger androgenic effect compared to testosterone propionate.
Crude, undistilled phenyl propionate, made by gently heating a mixture of equivalent quantities of phenol and propionyl chloride until hydrogen chloride evolution ceases, is satisfactory for rearrangement. The ester can also be made conveniently by slowly adding one mole of thionyl chloride to a mixture of 1.05 moles each of phenol and propionic acid, driving off all the hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide, and distilling.
