Potassium Hydroxide → 4-Methoxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a 500 ml erlenmeyer flask with magnetic stirrer was charged 10.3 g of 3-nitro-4-methoxy-methylbenzoate, 400 ml tetrahydrofuran, and 3.2 g of 86% potassium hydroxide. The reaction was stirred for 12 hours at ambient temperature, after which the resulting solid was collected by vacuum filtration and washed with 2×100 ml of ethyl ether. The solid was dissolved in 200 ml of water and acidified to pH 4 with 6N hydrochloric acid. The resulting precipitate was collected by vacuum filtration, washed with 200 ml water, and dried overnight in vacuo at 30° C. Isolated 7.4 g of product as a white solid.

Provenance & Evidence