Methanol → Methyl Syringate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Concentrated sulphuric acid (3 mL), was added dropwise to a solution of 81 (20.24 g, 102.1 mmol) in refluxing methanol (70 mL). The reaction mixture was heated at reflux for a further 5 hours and then cooled to room temperature and concentrated to a third of its original volume. The concentrate was poured onto crushed ice (c. 150 ml)and allowed to stand for 30 minutes. The aqueous mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (3×100 mL) and the combined organic phase washed with distilled water (3×100 mL), brine (3×100 mL) and dried over anhydrous MgSO4. Removal of ecxess solvent under reduced pressure afforded the product as a yellow solid, 121 (18.39 g, 86.7 mmol; 1H NMR (270 MHz, CDCl3) δ3.9 (s, 3H), 3.95 (s, 3H), 3.975 (s, 3H), 6.1 (s, 1H), 7.3 (s, 2H); 13C NMR (67.8 MHz, CDCl3) 3 166.9, 146.6, 139.2, 121.0, 106.6, 56.4, 52.1.

Provenance & Evidence