Nitrobenzene → Ethyl alpha-bromo-4-nitrobenzeneacetate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Nitrobenzene was treated with ethyl dibromoacetate in dimethylformamide containing potassium tertiarybutoxide at -20° C. to give ethyl 2-bromo-2-(4-nitrophenyl)acetate (1.37 parts) which was dissolved in methanol (50 parts). To this methanol solution was added dropwise separately a solution of bromine (1.72 parts) in methanol (40 parts) and a solution of sodium methoxide (0.56 parts) in methanol (40 parts). The reaction mixture was poured into dilute aqueous hydrochloric acid solution and extracted with dichloromethane. The dichloromethane solution was evaporated to give methyl 2,2-dibromo-2-(4-nitrophenyl)acetate (1.44 parts, 50%).

Provenance & Evidence