Dimethyl itaconate → Methyl 1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylate

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Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

In a 250 ml three necked flask fitted with a magnetic stirrer and reflux condenser, under inert atmosphere, 10 g (73 mmol, 1 eq) of 4-methoxy-benzylamine and 12.7 g (81 mmol, 1.1 eq) of dimethyl itaconate are dissolved in 100 ml of MeOH. The mixture is brought to reflux for 10 h, and cooled down slowly to 20° C. over 4 h and concentrated to dryness. In a 250 ml three necked flask fitted with a magnetic stirrer and Rashig column and distillation arm, under inert atmosphere, the crude intermediate and 0.69 g (7.30 mmol, 0.1 eq) of 2-hydroxypyridine are dissolved in 200 ml of toluene. The mixture is brought to reflux and the methanol formed distilled off for 8 h, until no more methanol is collected. Temperature in the pot reached 112° C. The mixture is cooled down and concentrated to dryness to give the crude ester. It is purified by column chromatography on silicagel (AcOEt/n-Hexane: 1/1 (v/v)) to afford the pure ester a1 (16.48 g, 85.9%).

Provenance & Evidence