Water → 5-(Carboxymethyl)-2-chlorobenzoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

Potassium hydroxide (0.969 g) in water (10 mL) was added to a solution of 2-chloro-5-(cyanomethyl)benzoic acid (1.25 g) in ethanol (10 mL) and the resulting mixture was heated at reflux for 2.25 hours, then allowed to cool. The mixture was concentrated in vacuo to remove the ethanol and then diluted with water and washed twice with ethyl acetate. The organic phases were discarded, whilst the aqueous phase was acidified to pH 1 with concentrated hydrochloric acid and extracted twice with ethyl acetate. The combined extracts were dried over anhydrous magnesium sulphate and concentrated in vacuo to afford the subtitled compound as a brown gum. Yield 1.38 g.

Provenance & Evidence