Hydrochloric Acid → HCID 66602549, compound

To 60 ml of methanol solution containing 5.80 g (19.7 mmol) of 4-bromo-2-cyclopropylmethoxy-1-difluoromethoxybenzene (see WO 2004033430) was added 60 ml of conc. hydrochloric acid, and the mixture was refluxed for 5 hours. After completion of the reaction, 60 ml of water was added to the reaction mixture, and the mixture was extracted with diethyl ether. The organic layer after separation was washed with a saturated aqueous solution of sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and then concentrated under reduced pressure. The obtained residue was applied to silica gel column chromatography (Eluent; hexane:ethyl acetate=4:1 (V/V)), and the fractions containing the desired compound were concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 4.80 g of the title compound as a slightly yellowish oil substantially quantitatively.