Potassium Hydroxide → Ethyl 2-[3-(3-bromophenyl)oxetan-3-yl]acetate

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution of [Rh(cod)Cl]2 (171.3 mg, 0.3518 mmol) in 30 mL of dioxane was added aqueous KOH (6.097 mL of 1.5 M, 9.145 mmol) followed by ethyl 2-(oxetan-3-ylidene)acetate (1 g, 7.035 mmol) and a solution of (3-bromophenyl)boronic acid (2.119 g, 10.55 mmol) in 10 mL of dioxane. The reaction was stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature then further (3-bromophenyl)boronic acid (706 mg, 0.5 eq) was added and the reaction stirred overnight. Brine was added and the aqueous layer extracted twice with ethyl acetate. The combined organics were washed with brine and then dried, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude product was purified on silica (Companion, 80 g) eluting with 1-20% EtOAc:Petrol ether to give ethyl 2-[3-(3-bromophenyl)oxetan-3-yl]acetate as a yellow oil (1.50 g, 71%).

Provenance & Evidence