Sulfuric Acid → 4-(Hydroxymethyl)-1-methylpyrrolidin-2-one

Participants

Reaction Steps

A solution of 2.3g (106 m moles) of LiBH4 in 150 ml of diethyl ether was slowly added dropwise at +5° C to 17.0g (107 m mols) of 4-carbomethoxy-1-methyl-pyrrolidone in 20 ml of absolute diethyl ether. Stirring was continued for 2 hours at room temperature, then the mixture was acidified with 2N sulfuric acid (pH 2), the solvent and water were distilled off to a large extent in vacuo and the remaining residue was extracted with methylene chloride. The dried methylene chloride phase was concentrated and the residue was distilled in vacuo. 5 g of the compounds desired were obtained in a 98 % purity: nD20 : 1.4950.

Provenance & Evidence