Hydrochloric Acid → Monomethyl terephthalate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Into a 20-mL glass vial equipped with stirring bar was added 0.0252 g (0.155 mmol, 0.052 M) of 4-cyanobenzoic acid methyl ester, 2.67 mL of potassium pyrophosphate buffer (20 mM, pH 7.0), and 0.30 mL of a 50 wt % cell suspension (0.155 g wet cell weight, 37.3 mg dry cell weight) of Acidovorax facilis 72W (ATCC 55746) cells in 0.35 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0, previously heat-treated at 50° C. for 20 min ), and the resulting 3 mL suspension stirred at 25° C. After 25.5 h, the pH of the reaction mixture was adjusted to between 1.5 and 2.0 with 6.0 N HCl, then 9.0 mL of a mixture of acetonitrile (44% v/v) and methanol (56% v/v) was added and the resulting mixture filtered and analyzed by gas chromatography. The conversion of 4-cyanobenzoic acid methyl ester was complete, and the yield (determined by GC) of 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid monomethyl ester was 94%, with no production of 4-cyanobenzoic acid.

Provenance & Evidence