Levodopa → Melevodopa

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A 3-Liter three-necked round-bottom flask equipped with a cooling bath, a thermometer and a condenser was charged with 1.5 Liters methanol, and acetyl chloride (119 ml, 1.2 mol) was carefully added thereto at 0° C. The cooling bath was replaced with a heating mantle and the mixture was heated to 15° C. 60 grams (0.3 mol) of L-3-(3,4-dihydroxy-phenyl)alanine was then added and the reaction mixture was refluxed for 3 hours and thereafter concentrated under reduced pressure at 60° C. to afford 74.3 grams (100% yield) of Compound 2 (see, Scheme 1). The product structure was confirmed by 1H-NMR.

Provenance & Evidence