Morpholine → Ethyl 2,6-dimethyl-3-(propan-2-yl)benzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Morpholine (13.34 g), isovaleraldehyde (13.18 g), p-toluene sulfonic acid (0.2 g), and toluene (300 ml) were combined and heated at reflux using a Soxhlet extractor containing magnesium sulfate to remove any water produced. After three hours the Soxhlet extractor was replaced with a condenser, and ethyl 4,6-dimethyl-2-oxo-2H-pyran-5-carboxylate (30 g) was added. The reaction mixture was heated under reflux for approximately 64 hours. The solvent was evaporated, and the resultant oil was distilled at atmospheric pressure to give 11.1 g of crude product which was chromatographed to yield ethyl 2,6-dimethyl-3-(1-methylethyl)benzoate (2.8 g).

Provenance & Evidence