4-Nitrophenol → Ethyl 4-nitrophenyl carbonate

To a solution of 4-nitrophenol (1.00 g) in dichloromethane (20 ml) were added dropwise ethyl chloroformate (0.70 ml) and pyridine (0.70 ml) under ice-cooling, and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight and then evaporated in vacuo. To the residue obtained was added ethyl acetate, and the organic layer was washed successively with a saturated aqueous sodium hydrogencarbonate solution, a saturated aqueous sodium chloride solution, a saturated aqueous potassium hydrogensulfate solution and a saturated aqueous sodium chloride solution. The organic layer was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and evaporated in vacuo. The residual solid obtained was collected by filtration using hexane to afford ethyl 4-nitrophenyl carbonate (1.44 g, yield: 95%) as a white solid.