What is Etard Reaction?

The Etard Reaction is an organic chemical reaction used to oxidize aromatic methyl groups to aldehydes. It involves the use of a chromium-based compound like chromyl chloride (CrO₂Cl₂) as the oxidizing agent. The reaction is named after the French chemist Alexandre Léon Étard who discovered it. For example, when toluene (C₆H₅CH₃) is treated with chromyl chloride, it gets converted to benzaldehyde (C₆H₅CHO).