Chloromethyl Methyl Ether → 4,5-Dibromo-2-ethyl-1-(methoxymethyl)imidazole

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Reaction Steps

4,5-Dibromo-2-ethylimidazole (451.3 g) was dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide (2.25 L), and potassium carbonate (368 g) was added. (Chloromethyl)methyl ether (200 g) was gradually added dropwise under ice-cooling and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hr. The reaction mixture was poured into ice-cooled brine and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed successively with water and saturated brine, and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure. Hexane was added to the residue and the mixture was heated and allowed to cool. The precipitated crystals were collected by filtration and dried by heating under reduced pressure to give 4,5-dibromo-2-ethyl-1-(methoxymethyl)imidazole (461.7 g) as brown crystals.

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