Methyl iodide → Benzoic acid, 2,3,4,5-tetrachloro-6-cyano-, methyl ester

Participants

Reaction Steps

12.9 g of the potassium salt of 3,4,5,6-tetrachloro-2-cyanobenzoic acid are heated for 20 hours under reflux in a mixture of 30 ml of water, 60 ml of methyl ethyl ketone and 11.4 g of methyl iodide. The aqueous phase is separated and the organic phase is concentrated by evaporation. Recrystallisation of the crude product (which contains only a small amount of impurities according to analysis by thin-layer chromatography) from ethanol affords 7.5 g of pure methyl 3,4,5,6-tetrachloro-2-cyanobenzoate with a melting point of 83°-84° C.

Provenance & Evidence