Hydrochloric Acid → 4-(5-Chloro-2-methoxy-phenyl)-4-oxo-butyric acid

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Reaction Steps

A mixture of 4-chloroanisole (20 g), succinic anhydride (16 g) and AlCl3 (42 g) in 1:1 tetrachloroethylene/nitrobenzene (200 ml) is stirred at -10°-0° C. for a week. The mixture is poured into a conc. HCl/crushed ice bath and the solvent is distilled under vacuo at 40° C. The resulting suspension is made basic with 10% aqueous NaHCO3. The solids are filtered and the filtrate made acidic forming a precipitate which is filtered, washed with water, taken up in ethanol and dried. The solution is filtered and evaporated affording the desired product as a white solid, M.P. 113°-115° C.

Provenance & Evidence