Hydrochloric Acid → Methyl N-(3-chloro-4-hydroxyphenyl)carbamate

5 ml of water and 2.5 ml of 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution were carefully added to 1.70 g of 4-amino-2-chlorophenol cooled in an ice-water bath and 2 ml of methyl chloroformate were added dropwise to the resulting mixture. The reaction mixture was then stirred for 3 hours at room temperature, at the end of which it was acidified with 4 ml of 2N hydrochloric acid, and the resulting mixture was extracted with methylene; chloride. The resulting extract was washed with water and then dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was then removed by evaporation under reduced pressure to give a crude crystalline solid which was purified by column chromatography through silica gel using a 2:1 by volume mixture of hexane and ethyl acetate as the eluent to give 2.08 g (yield 87%) of the title compound as a pale brown crystalline solid.