Methanol → Methyl pyrazinoate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

20.0 g (805.8 mmole) of pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid was added to 160 mL of methanol, and 1.0 mL of a concentrated sulfuric acid was gradually dropwise added thereto with stirring. A reaction solution was refluxed at a temperature of 80 to 85° C. for 5 hours. The reaction solution was cooled to a temperature of 20 to 22° C. and concentrated to a volume of 25 mL. Then, 80 mL of methylenechloride and 40 mL of water were added to the resultant concentrate. The resultant solution was then neutralized by gradual addition of 40 mL of a saturated sodium hydrogen carbonate solution to get a pH of 8.5. An organic layer was separated and a water layer was extracted again with 40 mL of methylenechloride. The combined organic layer was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered, and washed with 20 mL of methylenechloride. A filtrate was concentrated to give 21.1 g of the titled compound as a pale brown solid (yield 94.8%).

Provenance & Evidence