Chloroacetic Acid → (2-Phenylethoxy)acetic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

NaH (6.87 g, 172 mmol) was added slowly to a solution of 2-phenylethanol ([60-12-8], 6.00 g, 5.88 ml, 49.1 mmol) in DMF (50 ml). The reaction mixture was heated and kept for 10 min at 60° C. Chloroacetic acid ([79-11-8], 8.12 g, 86 mmol) was added slowly and carefully (exothermic), and the mixture was kept for 1 h at 60° C. The mixture was poured on ice and extracted twice with diethyl ether. Then the water phase was acidified (HCl, pH˜3) and extracted twice with ethyl acetate. Phenethyloxy-acetic acid [81228-03-7] was obtained after drying (Na2SO4), and evaporation of the solvent. The compound was sufficiently pure for the next step without further purification.

Provenance & Evidence