Ethanol → 3'-Chloro-4'-methoxyacetophenone

Participants

Reaction Steps

A 5 L round bottomed flask equipped with mechanical stirrer, reflux condenser, constant pressure addition funnel and nitrogen inlet was charged with anhydrous aluminum chloride (281 g, 2.104 mol) and 1 L of ethanol-free chloroform. The solution was maintained at 0° C. with an ice bath while a solution of acetyl chloride (162 g, 2.28 mol) in 300 mL of chloroform was added from the addition funnel over 25 minutes. To this solution was added 2-chloroanisole (250 g, 1.75 mol) in 250 mL of chloroform over 1 hour. The solution was stirred at room temperature for 16 hours and the contents of the flask were poured into a mixture of ice and water. The phases were separated and the aqueous phase extracted with dichloromethane and combined with the original organic phase, dried over anhydrous MgSO4, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to afford a solid that was crystallized from dichloromethane/hexane to give 3-chloro-4-methoxyacetophenone (246 g, 76%) that was used directly in the next step without further purification.

Provenance & Evidence