Methyl 12-hydroxystearate → Hydroxystearyl alcohol

Participants

Reaction Steps

A 5-liter flask equipped with a stirrer, dropping funnel and reflux tube was charged with 28.5 g (0.75 mol) of LiAlH4 and 2 liters of tetrahydrofuran, to which a solution of 237.0 g (0.75 mol) of methyl 12-hydroxyoctadecanate in 1 liter of tetrahydrofuran was added dropwise over 5 hours with stirring. After completion of the dropping, the stirring was continued further for 1 hour at 65° C. After the reaction mixture was then cooled, 90 ml of a 5% aqueous solution of KOH were added with stirring. A salt precipitated was separated by filtration, and the resultant solution was concentrated under reduced pressure. The resulting residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel, thereby obtaining 185.7 g (yield: 86.6%) of 1,12-octadecanediol.

Provenance & Evidence