Trimethyl borate → (2-Methoxy-3-nitrophenyl)methanol

A mixture of 2-methoxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid methyl ester (4.82 g), lithium borohydride (298 mg), trimethyl borate (0.27 ml) and anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (200 ml) was heated under reflux for 5 h. The reaction mixture was distilled under reduced pressure and ethyl acetate and water were added to the resulting residue. The organic layer was washed with a saturated aqueous sodium chloride solution, dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate and distilled under reduced pressure. The resulting residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluent, n-hexane:ethyl acetate=1:1) to give 3.18 g of the titled compound (yield, 76%).