(3,6-Dimethyl-1,2-phenylene)dimethanol → 4,7-Dimethyl-3H-isobenzofuran-1-one

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Reaction Steps

A 1 L 3-necked RBF is charged with 1,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)-3,6-dimethyl-benzene 3 (22.05 g, 0.133 mol), activated 85% manganese(IV) oxide (135.69 g, 1.327 mol), 4 Å molecular sieves (12.00 g) and anhydrous dichloromethane (500 mL), and placed under nitrogen. The reaction mixture is heated to reflux and stirred for 22 h. The reaction mixture is filtered through Kieselguhr and washed thoroughly with dichloromethane. The filtrate is concentrated in vacuo to yield the product 4 as a cream solid (19.79 g, 92%): 1H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.31 (d, 1H, 3J=7.5 Hz), 7.18 (d, 1H, 3J=7.5 Hz), 5.18 (s, 2H), 2.65 (s, 3H), 2.29 (s, 3H); 13C-NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3) δ 171.7, 145.8, 136.9, 134.5, 130.8, 129.3, 122.9, 68.3, 16.96, 16.91.

Provenance & Evidence