Dimethyl Sulfate → Methyl 2-methoxy-3-(3-nitrophenyl)prop-2-enoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Dimethyl sulfate (13.23 g, 105 mmol) was added to a stirred mixture of 2-hydroxy-3-(3-nitrophenyl)acrylic acid (10.5 g, 50.0 mmol) and caesium carbonate (39.1 g, 120 mmol) in DMF (105 ml) to form a clear, pale yellow mixture, which was stirred at RT overnight. The resulting dark red suspension was concentrated in vacuo and the residue partitioned between water (100 ml) and dichloromethane (150 ml). The organic layer was separated, further washed with water (2×100 ml), dried over sodium sulphate and filtered through silica gel. The resulting yellow solution was evaporated to dryness in vacuo to give methyl 2-methoxy-3-(3-nitrophenyl)acrylate as a yellow solid (8.1 g, 67%).

Provenance & Evidence