Water → 2-[2-(Hydroxymethyl)phenyl]ethanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution of 2-(carboxymethyl)benzoic acid (9 g, 0.05 mol) in THF (200 mL) was added to LAH in THF (250 mL) dropwise, the mixture was refluxed for 18 hours. The mixture was cooled in ice bath and carefully added water dropwise, followed by 50% NaOH (150 mL), then removed the ice bath and added water slowly with stirring until the gray precipitate turns white. The mixture was filtrated and the filtrate was concentrated to give crude 2-(2-(hydroxymethyl)phenyl)ethanol (6 g, 80%).

Provenance & Evidence