Phenylacetic Acid → Tert-butyl 2-phenylacetate

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a suspended toluene (2 ml) solution of 2-bromo-1-methylpyridinium iodide (720 mg, 2.4 mmol) was added a mixture of tert-butyl alcohol (148 mg, 2.0 mmol), phenylacetic acid (272 mg, 2.0 mmol) and tri-n-butylamine (888 mg, 4.8 mmol) in toluene (2 ml), and the resulting mixture was refluxed for 3 hours. After evaporation of the solvent, the residue was separated by silica gel column chromatography, and tert-butyl phenylacetate was isolated in 82% yield.

Provenance & Evidence