Ethylene Oxide → 2-(5-Methylfuran-2-yl)ethan-1-ol

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Reaction Steps

A solution of n-BuLi (83.0 mL, 133 mmol, 1.6 M in hexanes) was added to a stirred solution of 2-methylfuran (10.0 mL, 111 mmol) in THF (85 mL) at 0° C. under inert atmosphere. The reaction mixture was stirred for 4 h at room temperature then cooled to 0° C. Ethylene oxide (8.30 mL, 166 mmol) was added dropwise and the reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature overnight. After * quenching with saturated aqueous NH4Cl, the resulting layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with Et2O (2×250 mL). The combined organic layers were dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated under reduced pressure. Distillation at atmospheric pressure (170-185° C.) gave 10.1 g (80.3 mmol, 72%) of compound 21A as a light yellow oil.

Provenance & Evidence