Sodium Hydroxide → (R)-Solketal

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a stirring suspension of 5,6-O-isopropylidene-L-gulono-1,4-lactone (15.16 g, 69.5 mmol) in water (0.3 L) was added solid sodium periodate in small portions at 3-5° C. The pH of the mixture was adjusted to 5.5 with 1N aqueous sodium hydroxide. The suspension was stirred for 2 hrs at ambient temperature, then saturated with sodium chloride (20.0 g) and filtered. To the filtrate, at 3-5° C., was added sodium borohydride (10.5 g, 0.278 mol) in small portions. The reaction mixture was stirred for 18 h at ambient temperature. Acetone (100 mL) was added to destroy the excess of sodium borohydride, and the stirring was continued for 30 minutes. The acetone was removed under reduced pressure and the aqueous residue was extracted with dichloromethane (3×300 mL) and EtOAc (3×300 mL). The combined organic layers were dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and evaporated to give (R)-(+)-(2,2-Dimethyl-[1,3]dioxolan-4-yl)-methanol (5.07 g, 55.7%) as a colorless clear liquid: MS(APCI+)=132.9 (M++1).

Provenance & Evidence