Potassium Hydroxide → 3-(4-fluorophenyl)butanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

A solution of ethyl 3-(4-fluorophenyl)butyrate (45.3 g, 0.215 mol), 85% potassium hydroxide (14.22 g, 0.215 mol, Mallinckrodt) in 200 ml of deionized water was refluxed for 2 h, concentrated by spin evaporation in vacuo, made acidic (pH 3) with 12 N hydrochloric acid (Mallinckrodt), and extracted with dichloromethane (4×200 ml). The dichloromethane layers were combined, washed with deionized water (50 ml), and concentrated by spin evaporation in vacuo. The residue was crystallized from dichloromethane-hexanes to give 34.5 g (88%) of 3-(4-fluorophenyl)butyric acid as a white crystalline solid:

Provenance & Evidence