My question is about the products formed when phenol reacts with nitrous acid. I googled it and reached this PubChem paper (DOI: 10.1016/S0045-6535(02)00857-3), which states:
It was found that phenol reacts with nitrous acid to produce cyanide ions. Cyanide ion generation is attributed to the conversion of phenol to nitrosophenol through the well-known nitrosation reaction, and decomposition of benzoquinonoxim to form cyanide and aliphatic compound.
Is this correct? If not, then what is the actual reaction?