methyl 1H-indole-4-carboxylate → 1H-indol-4-ylmethanol
Reaction equation
[H-].[Al+3].[Li+].[H-].[H-].[H-].[NH:7]1[C:15]2[CH:14]=[CH:13][CH:12]=[C:11]([C:16](OC)=[O:17])[C:10]=2[CH:9]=[CH:8]1>C1COCC1>[OH:17][CH2:16][C:11]1[CH:12]=[CH:13][CH:14]=[C:15]2[C:10]=1[CH:9]=[CH:8][NH:7]2Participants
4
Reactant 2
Product 1
Reagents, catalysts & solvents 1
Procedure
To a mixture of lithium aluminum hydride (1.3 g, 34 mmol) in THF (200 mL), methyl 4-indole carboxylate (3.0 g, 17 mmol) in THF (100 mL) was added dropwise at room temperature. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 h and then quenched with ethyl acetate. The mixture was treated with water (1.3 mL), 15% NaOH (1.3 mL) and water (3.9 mL), and then filtered. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to afford the crude 4-(hydroxymethyl)-indole (2.5 g, 99%): 1H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl3) δ 8.29 (br s, 1H), 7.34 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 7.16-7.22 (m, 2H), 7.12 (d, J 7.0 Hz, 1H), 6.67 (t, J=1.0 Hz, 1H), 4.98 (d, J=4.2 Hz, 2H); CI MS m/z=147 [C9H9NO+H]+.