The title compound, C26H21O3P, was obtained as by-product due to the hydrolysis of the desired tosyl-ated compound. The dihedral angles between the three aromatic rings attached to the P atom lie in the range 78.1 (1)-87.6 (1)°. The hy-droxy-methyl group is disordered between two conformations in a 0.719 (9):0.281 (9) ratio. The hy-droxy H atom is not involved in inter-molecular inter-actions, while the hy-droxy O atom serves as a donor for weak C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which link the mol-ecules into chains propagating in [0-11].
Keywords: benzoate functionalized 2-(diphenylphosphano)phenol derivative; crystal structure; hydrogen bonding.