Sodium Dithionite → 2,6-Dimethylhydroquinone

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 2,6-dimethyl-[1,4]benzoquinone (5 g) and sodium hydrosulfite (10 g) in EtOAc (50 mL) and water (20 mL) was stirred for 30 min. After separation with EtOAc, the organic phase was dried and evaporated to dryness to give a off-white solid 5 g of 2,6-dimethyl-benzene-1,4-diol. The solid was dissolved in dry ether, cooled in an ice-water bath, followed by dropwise addition of sulfuryl chloride (5 g). After stirring the solution at RT for 3 h, workup and purification on silica gel column chromatography (30% EtOAc in hexane) gave 2.2 g 2-chloro-3,5-dimethyl-benzene-1,4-diol.

Provenance & Evidence