Water → 4-Bromomethyl-5-methyl-3-trifluoromethylisoxazole

A solution of 0.45 g (2.5 mmoles) of (5-methyl-3-trifluoromethylisoxazol-4-yl)-methanol dissolved in 10 ml of diethyl ether was cooed to 0° C. Thereto was added 0.2 g (8.9 mmoles) of phosphorus tribromide. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour to give rise to a reaction. After the completion of the reaction, the reaction mixture was poured into water, followed by extraction with diethyl ether. The resulting organic layer was washed with an aqueous sodium chloride solution and then dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The resulting solution was subjected to vacuum distillation to remove the solvent contained therein, to obtain 0.5 g (yield: 74.0%) of 4-bromomethyl-5-methyl-3-trifluoromethylisoxazole.