Trimethyl orthoformate → Methyl 2-(3-bromophenyl)acetate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A solution of (3-bromo-phenyl)-acetic acid (10.4 g, 48.5 mmol), in methanol (80 mL), was treated with trimethyl orthoformate (6.5 mL, 59.4 mmol). HCl gas was bubbled through the stirred solution for 10 minutes. The HCl addition was exothermic. After stirring for 15 minutes HPLC analysis of the solution showed complete conversion to product. After stirring for 16 hrs at ambient temperature the solution was diluted with toluene (100 mL) and concentrated under reduced pressure to afford a biphasic mixture. This liquid was diluted with toluene and concentrated under reduced pressure to afford (3-bromo-phenyl)-acetic acid methyl ester (11.2 g, quantitative yield) as a pale yellow liquid. 1H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.46-7.38 (2H, m), 7.23-7.18 (2H, m), 3.71 (3H, m), 3.60 (2H, m).

Provenance & Evidence