How to Write 苄 (biàn) — Meaning “Benzyl (chemical term)”

Think of 'benzyl' which sounds like 'ben' — and 卞 (biàn) sounds similar to 'ben'. The grass radical 艹 reminds you that benzyl groups are common in plant-based aromatic compounds like benzyl alcohol from flowers.

Write the top radical 艹 with two horizontal strokes and a vertical line, keeping it narrow. The lower part 卞 starts with a dot, then a horizontal line, a vertical stroke, and a final dot — be careful not to make the lower part too wide and remember the top dot.

苄 has 卞 as the lower part, while 兹 uses a different component (two 玄 or similar) and means 'now' or 'this'. 艻 has 力 (strength) below and refers to a type of grass. Only 苄 is used as a chemical term for benzyl groups.

苄 is a specialized character used primarily in organic chemistry, appearing in terms like 苄基 (benzyl group) and 氯化苄 (benzyl chloride). It is not part of everyday vocabulary or HSK, so you will mainly encounter it in scientific textbooks and chemical contexts.

Common words containing 苄 include: 苄基 (biàn jī) — Benzyl group; 苄胺 (biàn àn) — Benzylamine; 氯化苄 (lǜ huà biàn) — Benzyl chloride.