Reduction of terephthalic acid to an alcohol (or phenol?)
I want to make sure that you understand the different between two commonly confused molecules (their names don't help).

Phenol is an $\ce{-OH}$ group directly attached to an aromatic ring. Because of this connectivity, phenols exhibit different chemical behavior than other alcohols. In particular they are more acidic. Phenol can be abbreviated $\ce{PhOH}$, where the $\ce{Ph}$ represents the $\ce{C6H5}$ group of the aromatic ring. As a class of molecules, phenols can be represented generically as $\ce{ArOH}$, where $\ce{Ar}$ is used not for argon (there are no compounds of argon), but for generic arenes with any substitution.



Benzyl alcohol is a different molecule. In benzyl alcohol, there is a $\ce{CH2}$ group between the benzene ring and the $\ce{OH}$. Benzyl alcohol behaves like other alcohols. Benzyl alcohol is abbreviated $\ce{PhCH2OH}$.



Conversion of benzoic acid to phenol requires loss of a carbon atom.

$$\ce{Ph{\bf C}O2H -&gt; PhOH + {\bf CO}}$$

Lithium aluminum hydride converts carboxylic acids to alcohols, but it does not cause the loss of the carbon atom. Lithium aluminum hydride will reduce benzoic acid to benzyl alcohol. If you want the benzyl alcohol derivative, stop here. If you want the phenol, read on.

$$\ce{PhCO2H} \overset{1. \ \ce{LiAlH4}}{\underset{2. \ \ce{ H2O}}{\ce{-&gt;}}}\ce {PhCH2OH}$$

To convert benzoic acid to phenol, we need a way to loose that carbon atom. One way is to oxidize benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde using perhaps a Swern oxidation. Then benzaldehyde can be converted to phenyl formate using a Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation. The formate could be hydrolyzed in aqueous base.

$$\ce{PhCH2OH \overset{Swern}{-&gt;} PhCHO}$$
$$\ce{PhCHO \overset{Baeyer-Villiger}{-&gt;} PhOCHO}$$
$$\ce{PhOCHO}\overset{1.\ \ce{NaOH, \  H2O}}{\underset{2. \ \ce{H3O+}}{\ce{-&gt;}}} \ce{PhOH}$$

In practice, it would be easier to buy the phenol. In your case, you want hydroquinone.