Hydrochloric Acid → Diethyl (2-hydroxyethyl)phosphonate

Participants

Reaction Steps

100 g of 2-acetoxyethane phosphonic acid diethyl ester are blended with 200 ml of methanol containing 1 wt.% of HCl and heated to 65°-70°C for 4 hours. A mixture of methyl acetate/methanol is removed continuously from the reaction mixture by distillation. Upon submitting the mixture of methyl acetate/methanol to gas chromatography no ethyl acetate at all and only traces of ethanol are found. The crude 2-hydroxyethanephosphonic acid diethyl ester is distilled under reduced pressure. 68 g of 2-hydroxyethane-phosphonic acid diethyl ester (b.p. 106°-109°C/0.1 torr) are obtained, corresponding to a yield of 83.5% of the theoretical.

Provenance & Evidence