Ethanol → 5-Ethoxy-2-pyrrolidinone

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

At 0° C., 9.91 g of succinimide were charged initially in 415 ml of ethanol and a total of 5.53 g of sodium boranate was added a little at a time. At this temperature, every 15 minutes 2 to 3 drops of 2N ethanolic hydrogen chloride were added dropwise over 4½ hours. Subsequently, the mixture was acidified to pH 3 using more acid. After stirring for 1 hour at 0° C., the mixture was neutralized using 1% strength ethanolic potassium hydroxide solution and the mixture was stirred for a further 15 minutes and evaporated. The residue was taken up in water and extracted three times with dichloromethane. After drying over sodium sulphate and concentrating, 7.16 g (55% of theory) of γ-ethoxy-γ-butyrolactam were obtained.

Provenance & Evidence