4'-Hydroxyacetophenone → Acetophenone

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a mixture of p-hydroxyacetophenone (50.7 g, 0.37 mol) and 1-bromo-3-chloropropane (160 ml, 1.5 mol) in methanol (250 ml) was added portionwise potassium hydroxide (63 g, 1.12 mol). The mixture was stirred at reflux for 24 hours, cooled to room temperature, filtered through Celite and evaporated in vacuo. The residual semi-solid was diluted with diethyl ether (500 ml) and washed with H2O (2×300 ml). The ether solution was dried over MgSO4, filtered and evaporated in vacuo to give p-chloroproxy acetophenone as a liquid in 68% yield (53.38 g). 1H NMR (CDCl3): δ 7.98-7.89 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 2H), 7.02-6.92 (d, J=8.9 Hz, 2H), 4.16 (t, J=5.9 Hz, 2H), 3.75 (t, J=6.4 Hz, 2H), 2.52 (s, 3H), 2.34-2.16 (m, 2H).

Provenance & Evidence