Water → 5-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2-ethylaniline

Participants

Reaction Steps

4-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-ethyl-2-nitrobenzene (22.6 g, 86 mmol) is suspended in methanol (250 ml) and the reaction mixture is stirred at room temperature. Water (100 ml) is added, followed by zinc dust (39.0 g, 0.60 mol) and ammonium chloride (13.8 g, 0.26 mol) and the mixture is heated to reflux for 1 hour. The reaction mixture is cooled to room temperature, filtered through diatomaceous earth and the filtrate is evaporated under reduced pressure to remove most of the methanol. The residue is partitioned between ethyl acetate and water and the aqueous phase is re-extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic extracts are combined, washed with water and brine, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and the filtrate is evaporated under reduced pressure to give 3-amino-4′-chloro-4-ethylbiphenyl (15.0 g) as a colourless solid. The product is used directly without further purification in Step 5.

Provenance & Evidence