Water → Ethyl 2-(2-chloropyrimidin-5-yl)acetate

Zinc powder (3.55 g, 54.3 mmol) was added to a solution of (2,4-dichloro-pyrimidin-5-yl)acetic acid ethyl ester (Example 43-(1); 1.57 g, 6.70 mmol) in ethanol (10 mL)-water (8.5 mL), and the mixture was heated while stirring at an external temperature of 96 to 103° C. for 10 minutes. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and then filtered, and the filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure. Ethyl acetate and water were added to the residue, followed by extraction with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and then concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by silica gel chromatography (hexane/ethyl acetate=2/1) to give the title compound (820 mg, 61%).