19-Hydroxyandrostenedione → 19-Hydroxy-4,6-androstadiene-3,17-dione

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Reaction Steps

19-Hydroxy-4-androstene-3,17-dione and choranil are dissolved in t-butanol and rapidly brought to its reflux temperature. The t-butanol is removed by distillation at atmospheric pressure at such a rate so that the total reflux and distillation time equals one hour. The dark pasty residue is triturated with hot chloroform and cooled. The solid which remains is removed by filtration and the filtrate successively extracted with water, a 2% sodium hydroxide solution and again with water. The organic layer is dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent removed under vacuum to yield 19-hydroxy-4,6-androstadiene-3,17-dione. The diene so prepared is dissolved in acetone and chilled in an ice bath. Jones reagent is added over a period of about 10 minutes and stirring continued for an additional 45 minutes. The mixture is poured onto water. The solid which forms is filtered and recrystallized from benzene to yield 4,6-androstadiene-3,17,19-trione.

Provenance & Evidence