Hydrochloric Acid → n-(5-Methoxy-2-methylphenyl)acetamide

Acetic anhydride (5.6 g, 54.66 mmol) was added to a solution of 5-methoxy-2-methyl-phenylamine (5.0 g, 36.44 mmol) in pyridine (30 mL) and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. Water was added and the pH was adjusted to 5 by addition of an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid (3 M). The resulting mixture was extracted with dichloromethane; the organic layer was separated and washed with a saturated aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate and with brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and evaporated under reduced pressure to afford 5.93 g of N-(5-methoxy-2-methyl-phenyl)-acetamide as a white solid without further purifications.