Benzyl Alcohol → Phenylmethyl 4-methyl-3-oxopentanoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

3 g of molecular sieve (4 Å) were activated in a microwave oven at 100 W for 5 min. The molecular sieve obtained in this manner was then initially charged, and 200 ml of anhydrous toluene were added. 4.9 g (30.97 mmol) of ethyl isobutyrylacetate and 4.02 g (37.2 mmol) of benzyl alcohol were then added. The reaction mixture was heated at reflux temperature for 6 h. After cooling, the molecular sieve was filtered off and the solvent was distilled off under reduced pressure. The residue was chromatographed on silica gel (mobile phase: cyclohexane/ethyl acetate 10/1). This gave 4.70 g (65% of theory) of the target compound.

Provenance & Evidence