Hydrochloric Acid → 3-Fluoro-4-(methylsulphonyl)benzyl alcohol

Participants

Reaction Steps

To an ice-cooled suspension of 3-fluoro-4-methanesulfonyl-benzaldehyde (1.3 g, 6.44 mmol) in ethanol (5 ml) under an inert atmosphere of Argon is added sodium borohydride (0.275 g, 7.27 mmol) portionwise over 2-3 minutes. After stirring for 4 hours, the reaction mixture is poured carefully onto ice-cold water and acidified to pH 1 using 1M HCl. The product is extracted into ethyl acetate (80 ml) and this organic portion is washed with brine, dried over MgSO4 and the solvent is removed in vacuo to give an oil which solidifies on drying to yield the titled compound.

Provenance & Evidence