Bromomethyl 4-methoxyphenyl ketone → 1-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-2-[(3-methoxyphenyl)sulfanyl]ethan-1-one

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Reaction Steps

3-Methoxythiophenol (50.0 g, 0.356 mol) was dissolved in 700 mL of ethanol. To this mixture was added (20 g, 0.36 mol) of potassium hydroxide pellets. A total of (82.5 g, 0.36 mol) of 2-bromo-4'-methoxyacetophenone was added in small portions to keep the temperature of the reaction at approximately 25° C. The reaction was allowed to proceed at ambient temperature for three hours. The reaction was terminated by evaporation of the alcohol, which resulted in obtaining a brown oil. The oil was partitioned between 2 L of water and 1.5 L of diethylether. The ether layer was separated and washed with water, dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and evaporated to a solid. The solid was crystallized from a mixture of diethylether-petroleum ether (3:1) to yield 78.5 g of the title compound as a pink crystalline solid. mp 53° C.-54° C. EA calculated for C16H16O3S: C, 66.64; H, 5.59; O, 16.64; S, 11.12. Found: C, 66.55; H, 5.87; O, 16.82; S, 10.86.

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