Sodium Hydroxide → (4-Methyl-1,2-phenylene)dimethanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

To tetrahydrofuran (200 ml) was added lithium aluminum hydride (4.91 g, 129 mmol), and the mixture was stirred under ice-cooling. Then, a solution (100 ml) of 4-methylphthalic anhydride (10.4 g, 64.1 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran was added and the mixture was heated under reflux for 90 min. The reaction mixture was ice-cooled, and water (4.91 ml), 15% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (4.91 ml), water (14.7 ml) and anhydrous magnesium sulfate were successively added with stirring. The insoluble material was filtered off through celite, and the solution was concentrated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (9.34 g, yield 96%) as a colorless oil.

Provenance & Evidence