1,2-Dimethyl-3-nitrobenzene → 6-Methyl-2-nitrophenylpyruvic acid

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Reaction Steps

Sodium (3.802 g, 165.38 mmol, 2.5 eq) was added portionwise into ethanol (66 mL, 1M) at 0° C. Next, 3-nitro-ortho-xylene (10.00 g, 66.15 mmol, 1 eq) and diethyl oxalate (19.33 g, 132.23 mmol, 2 eq) were added. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 18 hours and then refluxed for 10 minutes. 1N sodium hydroxide and water were added and the reaction was stirred for one hour. The ethanol was removed under vacuum. Water was added and the aqueous solution was acidified with concentrated hydrochloric acid to ph~2. The mixture was extracted with methylene chloride. The extracts were dried (magnesium sulfate) and concentrated to give the title compound (9.0 g, 61%).

Provenance & Evidence