Methyl 2-bromo-4-methylbenzoate → Methyl 2-cyclobutyl-4-methylbenzoate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Cyclobutylzinc(II) bromide (50 mL, 0.5 M in THF, 25.0 mmol) was added to a mixture of methyl 2-bromo-4-methylbenzoate (compound 89.1, 5.0 g, 21.8 mmol) and PdCl2(dppf)CH2Cl2 (1.78 g, 2.20 mmol). The mixture was degassed with argon, then heated at 65° C. under argon for 24 hours. The mixture was cooled to 0° C., then carefully quenched with water (10 mL). The mixture was diluted with EtOAc (200 mL) and washed with water then brine. The organic layer was dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (hexanes:EtOAc 30:1 to 20:1) to yield 3.6 g (81%) of the title compound. 1H NMR (400 MHz, Chloroform-d) δ 7.68 (d, 1H), 7.23-7.17 (s, 1H), 7.03 (d, 1H), 4.16 (m, 1H), 3.86 (s, 3H), 2.39 (s, 3H), 2.34 (m, 2H), 2.16-1.96 (m, 3H), 1.80 (m, 1H).

Provenance & Evidence