Dimethylformamide → 4-Fluoro-2-nitro-1-propoxybenzene

A N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution (3 ml) of potassium carbonate (3.48 g, 25.2 mmol) and 1-iodopropane (3.95 g, 23.2 mmol) was added to a DMF solution (7 ml) of 4-fluoro-2-nitrophenol (3.3 g, 21.0 mmol). The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 48 hours. Water was added to the reaction mixture, and the resulting mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with a saturated sodium chloride solution twice, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified using silica gel column chromatography (n-hexane:ethyl acetate=9:1). The purified product was concentrated under reduced pressure to thereby obtain 4.03 g of oily yellow 4-fluoro-2-nitro-1-propoxybenzene (yield: 96%).