Triethylamine → (1-Benzhydrylazetidin-3-yl)methanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

1-Benzhydryl-3-azetidinecarboxylic acid (3.12 g) was suspended in tetrahydrofuran (60 ml), and cooled in an ice-methanol bath under a nitrogen atmosphere. Triethylamine (1.96 ml) was added dropwise, and a solution of ethyl chlorocarbonate (1.34 ml) in tetrahydrofuran (5 ml) was added dropwise over 20 minutes. After the addition, the reaction mixture was stirred at the same temperature for 30 minutes. The reaction mixture was filtered, and the residue was washed with tetrahydrofuran (30 ml). The filtrate was added dropwise to a solution of an aqueous (15 ml) solution of sodium borohydride (1.33 g) cooled in an ice water bath over 15 minutes. After the addition, the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature. 1N hydrochloric acid (35 ml) was gradually added to the reaction mixture to degrade excess sodium borohydride, and a 1N aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (35 ml) was added. This was extracted with ethyl acetate (100 ml). The organic layer was washed with brine, and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was concentrated, and the residue was dried under reduced pressure to give the title compound (1.59 g, 54%) as a pale brown solid.

Provenance & Evidence