Ethanol → Ethyl (4-chlorophenyl)acetate

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Reaction Steps

4-Chlorophenyl acetic acid (5.0 g; 29.3 mmol) is dissolved in 50 mL absolute ethanol. With stirring, 100 μL sulfuric acid is added to the solution and the reaction is heated to reflux for 2 hours. The ethanol is removed by rotary evaporation and the resulting oil is dissolved in ethyl acetate. The organics are washed successively with saturated sodium bicarbonate, water, and brine, then dried over magnesium sulfate. After removing the ethyl acetate by rotary evaporation, the resulting oil is dried under vacuum at 35° C. for two hours to give 5.60 grams of 4-chlorophenylacetic acid ethyl ester.

Provenance & Evidence