Ethanol → Methyl 2-ethoxy-5-nitrobenzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Methyl 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzoate (11.82 g, 60 mmol), triphenylphosphine (17.29 g, 66 mmol) and EtOH (3.03 g, 3.85 ml, 66 mmol) were taken up in THF (150 ml) and cooled in ice. Di-isopropyl-azodicarboxylate (8.31 g, 10 ml, 66 mmol) was added carefully, and the reaction was stirred at RT for 1 hr. The reaction was concentrated in vacuo, and the residue was triturated with EtOAc (50 ml). The solid thus formed was collected by filtration, washed with MTBE and dried in vacuo to give 12.2 g of crude methyl 2-ethoxy-5-nitrobenzoate. The filtrate was evaporated in vacuo, and the resulting residue was triturated with EtOAc (25 ml). The resulting solid was collected by filtration, washed with MTBE and dried in vacuo to give 6.31 g of a second crop of crude methyl 2-ethoxy-5-nitrobenzoate. The combined portions of methyl 2-ethoxy-5-nitrobenzoate were taken up in hot IPA (50 ml) and cooled to RT. The resulting solid was collected by filtration, washed with MTBE and dried in vacuo to give pure methyl 2-ethoxy-5-nitrobenzoate (5.49 g, 40.5%) as a yellow solid.

Provenance & Evidence