Ammonium Hydroxide → (5,6-Dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-1-yl)acetamide (5,6-Dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-1-yl)oxoacetamide

To a solution of (5,6-Dihydro-4H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-1-yl)oxoacetic acid methyl ester (0.50 g, 2.06 mmol) in 10 mL of tetrahydrofuran at 0° C. was added concentrated ammonium hydroxide (2 mL). The bath was removed and the mixture stirred 3 hours. After diluting with 20 mL of water, the suspension was filtered, washed with 10 mL of water followed by 10 mL of diethyl ether, and dried under reduced pressure to provide 0.403 g (86%) of the desired compound as a light yellow solid.