Acetic Acid → 2,5-Dimethyl-4-[[2-methyl-4-[(4-trifluoromethyl-phenylamino)methyl]phenyl]sulfanyl]-phenoxy-acetic acid ethyl ester

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a stirred solution of compound 21.4 (13.5 g, 37.7 mmol) in CHCl3 (135 mL) was successively added 4-(trifluoromethyl)aniline (6.07 g, 37.7 mmol) and AcOH (3.24 mL). After stirring at room temperature for 30 min, the reaction was cooled to 0° C., sodium triacetoxyborohydride (12.0 g, 56.6 mmol) was added, and the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 3 h. The reaction mixture was poured into 150 mL of ice-water and the product was extracted with 2×50 mL CHCl3. The organics were sequentially washed with 150 mL aqueous NaHCO3 and 150 mL brine, dried over MgSO4, and concentrated to a yellow oil, which was purified with flash chromatography (SiO2 gel 60 N, eluted with 10% EtOAc/hexanes-20% EtOAc/hexanes). The fractions containing the desired product were combined and concentrated to yield a colorless solid (18.7 g). 1H NMR (400 MHz) (CDCl3) δ 7.38 (2H, d, J=8.5 Hz); 7.20 (1H, s); 7.14 (1H, s); 6.97 (1H, d, J=8.1 Hz); 6.70-6.50 (4H, m); 4.66 (2H, s); 4.40-4.20 (5H, m); 2.38 (3H, s); 2.30 (3H, s); 2.22 (3H, s); 1.31 (3H, t, J=7.1 Hz).

Provenance & Evidence