Acetyl chloride → 2-(Acetyloxy)-4-(methylsulfanyl)butanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

Calcium 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio)butyrate (33.8 g, 0.1 g-mole) and acetyl chloride (110 g) are refluxed in a 250 ml round-bottom flask for 2.5 hours. The mixture is evaporated to a syrup and treated with 150 ml acetone. The brown mixture is stirred for 30 minutes, filtered, and the filtrate evaporated to dryness to give 37 g, 96.4% of brown viscous oil which is identified by TLC and nmr.

Provenance & Evidence