3-Hydroxybenzaldehyde → Methyl 2-(3-formylphenoxy)propanoate

Into 150 ml of N,N-dimethylformamide was dissolved 10 g of 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde; 13.6 g of anhydrous potassium carbonate was added; 13.7 g of methyl 2-bromopropionate was added dropwise at room temperature under stirring and the mixture was stirred overnight at room temperature. The reaction solution was poured into ice water and the mixture was extracted twice with t-butyl methyl ether. The organic layer was washed once with 5N aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, twice with water, once with 0.1N hydrochloric acid and once with saturated aqueous sodium chloride solution in turn, dried over magnesium sulfate and then concentrated under reduced pressure to give 16.48 g of methyl 2-(3-formylphenoxy)propionate.