Diisopropyl Ether → (1S)-1-phenylpropane-1,3-diol

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

In a 200 ml stainless steel-made autoclave were charged 426.5 mg of [RuI(p-cymene)(R)-Tol-BINAP]I3 prepared in Example 2, the diisopropyl ether solution of 3-phenyl-3-oxopropanal prepared in Reference Example 2, 100 ml of methanol, and 2.0 ml of degassed purified water in a nitrogen atmosphere, followed by stirring the mixture at 50° C. for 22 hours under a hydrogen pressure of 50 atm. The reaction mixture was concentrated and subjected to silica gel column chromatography (eluent: hexane/isopropanol=9/1 by volume) to eliminate the complex. The obtained hydrogenation product was dissolved in a 6-fold amount of diisopropyl ether by heating and allowed to stand at 0° C. for 24 hours. The resulting precipitate was collected by filtration and dried (room temperature, 1 mmHg), and 10.5 g of (1S)-phenyl-1,3-propanediol was obtained as a colorless crystal (percent yield: 45%).

Provenance & Evidence