Acetyl chloride → 2,3-Diacetoxypropanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

Acetyl chloride (500 ml) was added dropwise without stirring to the gummy like mass of lithium 2,3-dihyroxypropanoate (13) (171 g, 1.51 mole). The gummy like mass dissolved slowly and the mixture was left for 24 h at ambient temperature. Then the mixture was stirred and heated to reflux for 6 h. After cooling the mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (700 ml) and filtered through a tight glass filter (por. G4). The filtrate was evaporated to a oil, which was dissolved in ethyl acetate (750 ml) and washed with water (2×70 ml, pH=2). After drying over magnesium sulfate and treatment with activated charcoal (1.5 g) the mixture was filtered. The filtrate was evaporated to a light orange coloured oil. Yield (crude) 218 g (75%).

Provenance & Evidence