Iodine → 1-[1-(3,5-dichloro-benzyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-2-(3-methoxy-phenyl)-ethanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 3-methoxy-benzylbromide (40 mg, 0.2 mmol), magnesium turnings (172 mg, 7.1 mmol) and a small crystal of iodine in dry THF (0.6 mL) was heated at 40° C. until an exothermic reaction to initiated. A solution containing a mixture of 1-(3,5-dichloro-benzyl)-1H-imidazole-2-carbaldehyde (255 mg, 1.0 mmol) and 3-methoxy-benzylbromide (241 mg, 1.2 mmol) in THF (2.5 mL) was then added dropwise to the stirred reaction mixture. After the addition was complete, the mixture was poured into cold water (20 mL) and extracted with CH2Cl2 (2×30 mL). The combined CH2Cl2 extracts were dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by column chromatography (silica gel, 20:1 CH2Cl2/iPrOH) to provide the desired 1-[1-(3,5-dichloro-benzyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-2-(3-methoxy-phenyl)-ethanol (230 mg, 61%) as an off-white solid: ESI MS m/z 377 [C19H18Cl2N2O2+H]+.

Provenance & Evidence